Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists
by LizD
Summary: What if Maluku was a bust?  What if Tempe had to change whether she knew how or not?  What if Booth's experience was less than he had hoped for as well?  What if something forced them back together before they were ready? - COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**TimeLine: Picks up two weeks after the Season 5 ended.**

**Chapter 1**

**A/N:** More Season Six Desensitizing w/ slightly less angst (slightly). If you have not read my 'A Bride For Booth' you will not necessarily understand the desensitizing comment (and no you do not have to read that in order to read this - totally different takes on a situation). This is to ensure that if we don't get a slow run toward each other at the reflecting pool with the music coming up and a camera circling them as they kiss, declare undying love with promises to never part and a walk off into the sunset (and in all honesty who would want that?) – this little ditty will serve as something that started out looking bad for Booth and Brennan but was able to be turned around (I hope). This one is not done yet, trolling for interest.

With respect to the creators, writers, cast and crew of _**BONES**_, this is for the FanFix Fans who need more than 22-23 shows a season in a place where Booth and Brennan can be explored in countless directions. Please take this as flattery and keep writing and producing the show. You know we will all keep watching (and reading).

Comments are encouraged.

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_**In proving foresight may be vain;**_

_**The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men**_

_**Gang aft agley,**_

_**An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain.**_

_**For promis'd joy.**_

_**Still, though art blest, compar'd wi' me!**_

_**The present only toucheth thee:**_

_**But Och! I backward cast my e'e,**_

_**On prospects drear!**_

_**An' forward, tho' I canna see,**_

_**I guess an' fear!**_

_from "To A Mouse, On Turning Up Her Nest With The Plough"_

_by Robert Burns_

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**June 2010**

Brennan entered her apartment two weeks after she had left. She was completely defeated. Maluku was a bust; a total hoax. It took her less than five minutes to recognize that the remains they had found were not from one being rather two skeletons patched together. Any first year grad student should have been able to come to the same conclusion. However there was politics and money driving the "find" - it had nothing to do with science. It took her ten days to force the sponsors to accept her findings before they allowed her out of her contract after forcing her to sign a waiver that prevented her from speaking or reporting her findings to anyone ever. Brennan had turned her life upside down, broke with her partner, friends and family to take that opportunity, to pursue pure science, to follow her first love - all for nothing, less than nothing. Science, research, pursuit of truth had turned their backs on her too. It was all about money, perception and the system as defined by amoral people. How was that any different than the U.S. justice system?

There was nothing left. Her life was in ruins. She couldn't go back to the Jeffersonian even if Booth hadn't gone back into the Army and Angela and Hodgins weren't in Paris. She couldn't go back to face the death, murder and mayhem; to look for truth and to know that it had little to do with justice - not any more. She couldn't go back to identifying the remains that were stored in limbo; there was no justice to be found for them either. Her publisher was pressuring her for a new book, but she had refused the last advance owning to the fact that she didn't expect to have time to write when on the expedition. Now she had all the time in the world but couldn't bring herself to sensationalize the taking of someone's life for entertainment purposes - even if that person was a fictional character. Her father was with Russ and his family for a year. Nothing was working. Her life was failing. It was time to adapt. It was time to change. She had no other option.

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Very early in the morning, Brennan walked up the beach eventually finding her destination – a shack next to a large barn like structure. The doors were open on the barn and she saw him working diligently on something but she wasn't quite sure what. Other than the darker tan and sun bleached hair she would have recognized him immediately even from behind and at that distance. She paused one last time to consider the wisdom of her action. A woman emerged from the shack, she joined him and they shared a very familiar kiss. Brennan could not look away. She remembered his kiss, his taste, his touch as if he had left only the day before rather than three years ago.

"Sully," she whispered barely loudly to hear.

He was right – that life: the murders, the death and the destruction had finally taken its toll. Had it been a mistake not to go with him? Was it a bigger mistake to seek him out after so much time? Would he remember her? Would there be a place for her in his life even temporarily? Clearly he wasn't alone, but would he resent her choice then and now?

The woman kissed him one more time and proceeded down the beach toward where Brennan was standing. She was lovely – full of life, bright, happy – so unlike Brennan. "Hello," the woman called to her with some accent that Brennan couldn't place. "You looking for Sully?"

"Yes," Brennan said.

"He is right up there," she gestured casually to the barn.

For some reason Brennan felt the need to explain herself. "I am Temperance Brennan."

The woman stopped a few feet from her and smiled warmly. "So, you are Temperance." She examined Brennan quickly. "You are very beautiful … more beautiful than your picture."

"You know me?" Brennan asked.

"I know of you," she nodded toward the water. Brennan turned to see Sully's boat moored about 60' off the beach. "I had to know where the name came from," she explained. "Since it clearly wasn't a way of life for Sully." The woman flashed a knowing smile. "And I have seen your picture on the back of your books. I wondered if someday you would come looking for him."

"I was on vacation," Brennan started to explain. "I would have called -."

"Sully doesn't have a phone," she stated. "He will be very glad to see you. I am Lilliana. We are just friends – good friends – but just friends. I must go." She smiled again and left.

Brennan appreciated her stating the nature of their relationship. It made it easier for Brennan to approach him. If he has been involved, committed or married (all of which were possible) the trip would have been for naught and would have been more than a little uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly Brennan continued up the sand to the edge of the barn area.

She saw what he was working on. It was a chair, probably the finest workmanship she had seen. There were three more like it in various states of finishing. He was hand-sanding each rung of the ladder back. Booth had told her he was a master carpenter, but it had never come up during their time together.

She watched him for a moment, marveling at his concentration, at the dedication and commitment he clearly put into the workmanship. It was how Sully had done everything. When she first knew him she thought he was indifferent and undisciplined. She came to discover that he had many interests and gave each one one-hundered percent attention when it was right in front of him, but easily moved from interest to interest. She particularly appreciated his focus when it was on her. He was leaner than he had been, but tighter, toner and stronger. The time away had been very good for him – physically.

"Sully?" she called to him tentatively not wanting to disturb his concentration, but needing to get his attention.

He looked up. Slow recognition spread across his face. He of course knew who she was immediately. The recognition was for her purpose for coming. She could be there for any number of reasons, but she was there so that had to say something. He stood, wiped his hands on his shorts and crossed over to her. He put his hands on either side of her face and studied the changes he saw. She looked tired, defeated and lost. "Temperance," he whispered. He pulled her to him for a full body embrace. "Are you OK?" he whispered in her ear.

"Better, now." She hugged him back hard. All her fear and trepidation at seeing him again vanished. She was glad she came. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she fought them back.

"It's OK, Temperance." He held on tighter rubbing her back. "It's OK."

"I have missed you," she said with her voice cracking.

"Me too." He pulled back to look at her face again. He didn't hesitate. He kissed her. They would have to talk, talk about what had brought her there but that would all wait until after. "Oh I have missed that too." He smiled down at her. Embarrassment shot down Brennan's spine. She looked down and stepped back. He let her go. "Can I get you something to drink?" He offered.

"Coffee?"

He shook his head. "Caffeine free zone here … sorry."

"I'm fine." She nodded over to his work area. "Thought you would be running charters."

"I do that too. In fact I do everything – everything I ever wanted; whenever I want to."

"Sausage and Peppers?"

"Every Thursday night," he grinned. "Band plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I run the charter as often as needs be. Have a plane on the south side of the island and I run hops around the islands. I volunteer with the Fire Department here and occasionally I help out the local police but only on rare occasions."

"And you make furniture." She stepped over the chair and admired it. "Very nice."

"Thank you … it relaxes me."

"You sound like you have a very busy schedule."

He nodded slowly. "I stay busy." He held up his arms. "But I don't own a watch … don't own a suit … haven't put my feet in anything other than deck shoes or sandals in three years."

"And you are happy?"

"I am."

She nodded. "I was told after you left that the reason I didn't go was that I was unable to live a purposeless life."

The use of the word _**purposeless**_ stung a bit. "I thought the reason you didn't go with me was because of Booth." She looked down. "You don't have to answer this … 'cause it really doesn't matter to me but I imagine it does to you and that is important to me." He waited until he was sure he had her attention. "Why are you here?"

"I found I had time on my hands … in fact I have a lot of time on my hands. I took a year away from the Jeffersonian."

"And you came here?"

"I went to the Maluku Islands to head up an expedition into what should have been the greatest find since 1974 and the discovery of Australopithecus. It could have changed the course of our understanding of human evolution."

"Full of purpose," he commented. "And is better than digging up clues to put murders away."

"It was a hoax," she stated. "It was a total waste of time and money."

"So instead of going back to work … you came here."

"Booth has reenlisted in the Army and is training soldiers in Afghanistan."

"Well that has purpose." He slumped down into an overstuffed chair that had seen better days. "So you had time, and Booth was gone, so you came here."

She hesitated. "You were right," she said. "You can't do that job for too long, it warps you."

He nodded. "So the time off … the sabbatical from the FBI, the Jeffersonian and Booth were not just coincidental. Maluku gave you a place to go that had purpose."

"I don't know if I can go back – not in a year, not ever."

"I understand that … but things will look different once you put some time and space between you."

"No," she stated emphatically. "What I have experienced. What I have done. What I have been forced to do. I have taken lives. I live in constant fear that someone else will die – someone I care about. I have lived with death and destruction for too long. I wrote about it. I dreamt about it. For five – no six years it was my entire life – waking and sleeping." He waited. "I have tried to beat it. I have tried to fight it. I have tried to give justice to its victims. To make the killers pay for what they have done. I used everything I was to fight but they just keep coming. Time and time again I am told that the truth doesn't matter. The facts don't matter. Only the law matters and the law twists and distorts the truth, the facts to meet its own end. I can't fight both the murderers and the system. Then ... just when I thought I was getting away from the system, I run into this hoax in Maluku that I was expected to play along with. I was expected to use my science, use my reputation to validate their lie for fame and money. It disgusted me. Science has been ruined for me. They - the SYSTEM has taken away everything I thought I was, everything I expected to be, everything I had believed in – and ruined it."

She was clearly upset but talking around the real issue. "Tempe, what happened?"

She fought back the tears. "Booth would say that I have lost my faith, but –." She hesitated. "But you can't lose something that was never really there."

"Tempe?"

"Do you remember the Gravedigger?" she blurted out.

"I heard she was convicted."

"Barely! The system nearly let a psychopath loose. On some ridiculous technicality all the evidence that proved her guilty of Booth's abduction, of Hodgins and my abduction… and all the others, was throw out of court. Do you know what it feels like to see the person who tried to kill you - kidnapped you for money - standing less than five feet from you and there is not a damn thing you can do about it."

"Why was it thrown out?"

"I don't know ... something about not obtaining the warrant legally. If we had waited for the SYSTEM to give us legal right to obtain the evidence Booth would have been dead. How is that justice?"

"I'm sorry." He was sorry. He has his own faith shaken a number of times. His partner had been killed because information had not been disseminated to all the people who needed to know; another example of the system breaking down.

"That woman would never have crossed my path if it were not for the work I was doing with Booth."

"She would also be out on the streets abducting and killing others if it weren't for you – as would countless others."

"You don't know that … I don't." She shook her head. "I can't carry the weight of the world on my shoulders."

"No one is suggesting that you should." He reached for her and directed her to sit down on the table in front of him. She did reluctantly. He took her hands in his. "Did you come here to hide?"

"No," she said a little too sharply. "I came here hoping to find another way to live."

"And you think I can help you with that?"

"I hope you can … I hope you want to."

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Sully did want to. He wanted what he had always wanted for her; for himself. However, he needed to protect his heart. He had been in love with her back then. He knew her heart wasn't easily touched. He didn't believe that she didn't have the capacity for love, just that she wouldn't permit herself to experience it fully. It made sense with her history and with the way she had chosen to defend herself against the world. Still there was something in her, something about her, something that was so close to the surface he could almost see it. He truly believed that if she ever did let herself love it would be a force more powerful than nature. But he didn't believe that he would be her choice. Three years before the timing was off for Sully and Brennan. Somehow he knew the timing wasn't any better this time, but he would do what he could to help her get her faith back and maybe even find a new way to live.

He took her in. Showed her his life. He opened a world of possibilities for her. He introduced her to people; people who were not driven to fight for justice or find the facts. People who wanted to just live. She wanted to try her hand at new employment; he taught her to sail, to fly, to make a jerk chicken to die for. He also showed her how to enjoy her downtime: swimming, eating, drinking, laughing. It was a whirlwind but he saw her walls coming down. He saw her getting comfortable in her own skin without trying to control everything. He saw her enjoying sunsets, talking philosophy with a local fisherman, failing at something and being OK with failure.

One night about six weeks after she had arrived they were sitting on the beach with a fire and looking out at the ocean and up at the stars. Until then they had shared only a few kisses, some very nice hand holding and an occasional cuddle at the end of a long day, but they hadn't made love. It was a mutual decision but it wasn't talked about. That was about to change - the talking and the making of love.

Brennan tucked into his embrace and sighed. "I see now why you find this life so attractive."

"Probably won't be forever, but for now and the foreseeable future."

"You do like to keep your options open, don't you?"

"Never know what is around the next bend, over the horizon, down the next road."

She liked that about him. He made it safe to take a chance, to try something new. He would never ask for 30, 40 or 50 years. "What haven't you tried that you want to?" she asked.

"Lots of things." He pulled her closer. "There are a lot of things that I probably never will."

"Such as?"

"Lion tamer ... I don't like lions ... don't really like cats."

"Booth and I went undercover at a circus ... he was a knife thrower."

"I guess he was good considering you are still with us and apparently have all your parts."

"I found the experience quite exhilarating." She sat up. "I even tried my hand at the high wire."

"Running away and joining a circus ... that is pretty brazen of you, Dr. Brennan."

"Well we didn't literally run away."

"Not like now," he said a little too seriously.

"You think I ran away?"

"Didn't you?" he asked. "Does anyone know where you are?"

"I am free and well above the age of consent," she stated. "I have no responsibilities that I am shirking."

"I get that ... but -."

"There is no one looking for me, what makes you think I am hiding," she accused.

"I don't care if you are ... I just want you to be sure."

"Is that why you haven't wanted to have sex with me?"

He winced slightly at the directness of her question. "Yes," he answered. "Tell me ... did you walk away from the job or Booth?"

She turned so she could look at him fully. "It is hard to separate one from the other."

"Did you and Booth ...?" He left the question implied.

"No," she answered directly knowing that it wasn't enough and it wasn't exactly correct. "Booth had suggested that he wanted more, but I said no."

"Do you know why you said no?"

She almost laughed but it was too sad. "I was trying to protect our partnership ... ironically I lost that too."

"Why are you so afraid of relationships, Tempe? Why not allow yourself some happiness even if it is fleeting."

"You are not talking about Booth."

Actually he was but he was including more than just Booth. "Well him ... me ... who knows who else?" He took her hand. "Why didn't you come with me?"

"You know the reason."

"I want to hear you say it."

"The only person I can rely on is me. I couldn't give that up for ..."

"You couldn't give that up for me," he offered. She nodded. "I wasn't asking you to give yourself up, just your job." He pressed her hand. "I'll bet Booth wasn't either."

"Are you suggesting ..."

"No, I'm not suggesting anything. I'm saying that when you do allow yourself to love completely ... I hope I am around."

"I am here now," she said suggestively and leaned in toward him.

"Yes," he smiled. "Yes you are." He could no longer resist. He kissed her and they made love on the beach, near the fire, under the stars with the soft surf lapping at the shore.

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**November 2010**

Brennan was still on the island. Time had flown by. She had taken a little bungalow near where Sully's shack was. Nothing had really changed in their relationship, but they were enjoying each other's company and were "dating." She had become a very integral part of the daily life on the island with more than just Sully. She ran some charters by herself for Sully, helped out at the bar, taught at the school and she had started a new novel.

The book was what took up most of her time. It was a historical novel set on the island at the turn of the twentieth century about a teacher and a sailor. She had intended it to be a love story with lots of historical accuracy. They had a small library on the island that she used for some research but there were plenty of people who loved to tell stories. At the end of chapter 4 her story took a turn. The sailor had been murdered and a marshal entered to find his killer. The turn surprised her. She hadn't thought about murder or death or the life she left behind - at least not consciously. Clearly it was still affecting her. There was something else; something about the marshal. He was very familiar. He was very real. The instant connection that the teacher and the marshal had was so much deeper, more profound, more interesting than the teacher and the sailor. She hadn't intended for it to happen, but the teacher and the marshal fell in love, but they were unable to act on their feelings for various reasons mainly because Brennan wouldn't let them. One night she was rereading chapter 15 and she had a very clear picture in her head of a scene where the marshal comes to her, professes his love and she rejects him. Her reasoning wasn't sound. Brennan worked it and worked it, but there was absolutely no reason for the teacher to reject him. She sat with the unfinished novel for six weeks until she finally rewrote Chapter 15. And the rest flowed out as it was meant to be. She had finished her love story.

She would often dream of her characters. Usually she had imagined Cam or Angela as the teacher and some faceless man as the marshal. The first night after she finished the book, she dreamt again about her characters: she was the teacher and Booth was the marshal.

For the first time since May, she was homesick but there was no reason to leave – Booth wasn't at home.

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**January 2011**

One day after returning from a charter with four young men from Miami, Sully met her on the dock.

"Hey?" she said with a bright smile and a quick kiss. "Miss me?" Sully didn't look very happy.

"I've got her," said a man standing behind Sully. She looked past Sully when she heard the familiar voice. "We'll be back on the next plane." He snapped his phone shut and turned to glare at her. He was more than a little angry.

"Booth?" He was not dressed in fatigues or in a uniform of any kind.

"Get your stuff ... we need to get back to DC," he barked.

"Nice to see you too," she returned his ire. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are ... Taffet is out."

The very sound of her name made Brennan's heart sink into the pit of her stomach. "Out?"

"Out ... as in escaped ... you would know that if - She is out and looking for payback. So get your stuff, we are headed back to D.C."

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**A/N: So … testing, testing, is this thing on? Anyone want to see this play out? Won't be easy.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 2**

**A/N:** Thank you all for you vote of support and confidence. And look at what an international group you all are: USofA, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Aruba, Brazil, Philippines, Netherlands, Poland, India, Ireland, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, Argentina, Russian Federation, Hong Kong, Belgium, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Hungary, Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Kenya, Greece, Finland, China, Switzerland, Israel, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Panama, Maldives, and Qtar. There is even a place listed as "Satellite Provider" - is that off the planet, do you think? Very impressive to know that _**Bones**_ and FanFixtion is a global constant. Here's hoping that this will be an interesting ride for all of us. As always comments are encouraged.

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**January 2011**

Booth watched as the boat eased into the slip at the dock. He watched her handling the boat, working the ropes, dealing with the clients. She had mastered it all. She was tan and tone – thinner, leaner, stronger. Her hair was lighter, longer and pulled back off her face. She had definitely lost weight, but more than that she seemed to glow. He didn't allow himself to think it consciously, but she was more beautiful than he remembered. Or maybe she had changed – maybe she actually was more beautiful. She jumped down onto the dock and greeted Sully with a bright happy smile and a kiss. Had she ever looked at him that way? Maybe that wasn't Brennan. Maybe that wasn't the person who invaded his thoughts, his dreams, his past. Maybe that wasn't the person he saw in his future. Maybe that wasn't the woman he had been searching for for three days and nights from the jungles of Maluku to the Caribbean. But it was. It was Dr. Temperance Brennan - as per usual she was oblivious to the danger she was in, oblivious to the consequences of her actions, oblivious to him. He was standing less than five feet from her and she had no idea. Oblivious. Had she thought about him once since they went their separate ways? Was Maluku just a lie to get away from him? Was this the plan all along? Fear and relief were replaced with anger and something else ... something he could not name. _Check it!_ he told himself. It didn't matter what his feelings were - it never did. There was a job to do.

"I've got her," Booth said into his phone. Their eyes met. In all the time they had been apart, in all the ways he had imagined their next meeting, never had he suspected that he would find her in the arms of another man, much less Sully. He imagined tentative. He imagined overjoyed. He imagined normal, as if no time had passed. He imagined the super slow-mo run with arms outstretched with the music, the sunset and the kiss. He had imagined the hero save;__swooping in at the last moment to save her life and being rewarded for his efforts. He had imagined that one more than once. He had fantasized about it just hours before. _Fool! Idiot! Sucker! Check It!_ "We'll be back on the next plane." He snapped his phone shut.

"Booth?" Her voice was the same. It was unmistakable, unshakable, undeniable. It had rung in his ears from the moment they had parted. _Don't be a hero. Don't be you._

"Get your stuff ... we need to get back to DC," he barked stuffing his feelings down again. That was familiar. How often had he hidden what he was feeling or thinking from her? How easy it was to do with her because she didn't want to know. She knew that he would kill for her; that he would die for her. But she didn't want to know that he would change his life for her in ways more profound than life and death. She didn't want to know. She didn't want him. To be with him would require change and he clearly wasn't worthy of change - Sully was - at least that was Booth's impression.

"Nice to see you too," she said sarcastically. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are ... Taffet is out." He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. He regretted it as soon as he did. It was clear that the information hit her like a baseball bat in the solar plexus. He had known what Taffet had cost her; how that lunatic had affected her. Forced her to rethink her life, leave her friends, end her partnership with him. He never should have dragged her into that life. Of course she had to get away from the Taffets of the world. How could he be so callous, so cold, so mean? _Check It!_ He needed to remember that it wasn't her fault that she left. It was his.

"Out?" she asked.

"Out ... as in escaped. You would know that if ..." The near debilitating fear he had been living with for the past five days was full on him again. He had fought with himself and everyone around him to believe that Taffet hadn't gotten to Brennan though the possibility was very real. It terrified him. This time Taffet wouldn't be making the phone call. This time there would be no demand for ransom or follow up call with coordinates. This time there would only be death - worse than death there would be silence as no clue would be left as to where Taffet had taken her victim. Brennan. She could have been beyond his reach. She could have been unsavable – rather than on an island with a lover for the past eight months. _Check EGO!_ "She is out and looking for payback," he said as calmly as he could. They had to stop her and they had to do it together - it didn't matter that his heart had just been ripped out of his chest and stepped on. She was alive and safe and he would do everything in his power to keep her that way. "So get your stuff, we are headed back to D.C. Chop! Chop!"

"Booth," she started to protest.

"Tempe," Sully interjected. "Booth is right. If Taffet is out, you need to be someplace where you can be protected. If Taffet is out looking for you or any of your crew, you need to help find her and put her back where she belongs."

"Ok." Brennan nodded. Booth hated that Sully was able to talk to her and get her to change her mind - change her mind about a lot of things apparently. She took the bag that Sully had packed for her and hugged him. "Let's go!" she stated to Booth.

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The past eight months had been no vacation on a tropical island for Booth.

By the time the plane had touched down in Afghanistan Booth realized what a mistake he had made - professionally (personally would come later). Yes, they had given him a promotion, but it wasn't to officer status. He was still enlisted and with that came order taking and the inability to affect the planning of a mission. Those were the reasons that had prompted him to leave the last time. Since then Booth had spent too many years making his own rules, exerting his independence, stepping outside the box to get the job done to go back to being a 'yes sir' soldier. He was too old and had spent too much time in the world for his experience and opinion not to matter. The first moment that hit home was when he returned to base after seeing Brennan off. The way his commanding officer came down on him he would have thought he had undermined the entire war effort. Booth found it very difficult to keep from blurting out one of a hundred arguments. The second time the message was driven home was when he started training his men and deviated from the standard military issue format. He was confined to his quarters for a month following the _discussion_ (read: insubordinate remarks) he had with his CO about the use of forensic science and proper interview techniques in getting the job done. Apparently they didn't ask him back for his expertise, they just needed another body to fill a billet.

"You are in the Army now BOOTH … you are not an FBI Agent with $1500 suits and a pretty partner to do all your work for you." Apparently Booth and his partnership with Brennan had gotten his CO's attention and not in a good way. "I realize that this is just a little year-long field trip for you to feel good about yourself again – but this is war. And not the kind of war you are used to. You won't be sitting on a hill top with a long range rifle waiting to take your shot. This is the real deal. This is life and death - every minute of every day. This is about duty, honor, service to your country and saving the ass of the guy next to you. There will be order and discipline or people will die. You might be one of those people."

So his CO didn't think much of him. Everyone else seemed to liked him but showed it with over the top Booth/Brennan Razzing. His peers called him Agent Andy. The soldiers he was training often slipped in questions about the sex in the books. Every time he mentioned anything about forensic science, there were hoots and hollers and all kinds of "bones" comments that were less than appropriate. Of course there was only a couple of guys who had actually read the books (probably only one) but that was enough to get all of them talking. That was the least of Booth's problems.

First and foremost - _**war was hell**_. It may be an old sentiment - old as war itself, but as true in 2010 as it was when time began. War was hell. The death. The dying. The killing. The maiming. The blood. The pain. The loss. The hyper-vigilance. The paranoia. The anger. The fear. The control. The chaos. The inaction. The pre-action. The action. The after action. The noise: booms, pops, thuds, moans, cries, shouts, silence. The dirt. The heat. The cold. The exhaustion. The hunger. The lack of privacy. The isolation. The homesickness. The camaraderie. The benevolence. The humanity. The brutality. The vengeance. The mercy. The reality. The surreality. The power. The powerlessness. War was hell.

Booth had been to war before. He knew about it. He hadn't forgotten - not for a day, not for a moment. He thought he knew what he was signing up for this time - but apparently his memory had softened the experience at least around the edges. He was older now. He was supposed to be wiser. He wanted to keep his head back home – the justice, the humanity, the relative safety, but there was no way to do that and survive in a war zone. He knew about that too. He had to survive. He had to help others survive. He had to get home and help others get home. In order to do that, he had to be there - he had to be fully present in the moment and focus. That meant leaving home behind.

The soldiers he was training were bright and dedicated even if they had seen too much of this war. What right did he have to teach them anything? Most of the soldiers had been there for two tours already. They had lived the horror and survived so far. What did Booth have to teach them? The real answer was that he had a lot to share. He could help them refocus and stay alive. He could help them get home even though home would never be the same - the war would never leave them. He knew about that too but maybe it would soften around the edges in time.

Booth's private battle came during the wee hours of each morning. It was never quiet, but that was the stillest time and allowed him to think, think too much. Communication with the people back home (or in the jungles of Indonesia) was all but cut off. He was able to speak with Parker less than once a week. He had gotten one email from Brennan, but that was it. He hadn't expected her to write at all. It was an unstated understanding between them. Trying to communicate would be harder to take than the silence. What could she say, what would he? Was there anything that would help the time and separation OK? No. They had said their good-byes and would see each other in twelve months – however that turned out. They had no obligations. They were both free. There was no guarantee (only a promise) that they would meet in the allotted time. There was no guarantee that either one would make it home or pick up where they left off. But Booth had a plan. He expected they would make it home. He expected that they would renew their partnership and with some luck, patience and a single minded effort a lot more.

Long about September – October, Booth met an old colleague, Margaret "Maggie" Walker. He had known her in DC about seven or eight years prior. She was FBI then. They dated on and off for about six months before she left DC and ultimately the bureau. They weren't serious but they had fun. She was working DCIS (___Defense Criminal Investigative Service) _and was a civilian consultant tasked to Afghanistan to aid in tracking terrorists. She had been there over a year and was headed home in two months. Since last they saw each other she had been married and divorced. She was actually married to her work – just like Booth. It was why they got along so well back then, and why it never went further. She held a rank equivalent to a colonel and Booth was considered enlisted, but they pushed the limit of the CO's tolerance – keeping any liaison between them on the down low.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

At first Maggie was just nice to talk to; like a friendly face in a hostile environment. But after a little while it got to be more. It wasn't love, it was two people finding comfort a long way from home. The best part for Booth was that he could be totally honest with her more than he had ever allowed for himself.

"So why did you reenlist?"she asked him one night.

"Request from the Secretary of Defense," he said casually.

"Wasn't the first one of those you have gotten, so why accept this time?"

"They sent somebody to see me ... recruit me ... old friend ... sort of."

"If you don't want to talk about it, just say so," she challenged him. Booth pondered an answer. "It is about a girl," she told him. "It is always about a girl. Parker's mother?"

"No," Booth answered slowly.

"Then your scientist partner." Booth gave her a look. "Come on Booth ... I know you ... you don't work with women you don't want to sleep with."

"Is that really how you see me?"

"You wouldn't have taken her on as a partner if she weren't ... yah know ... doable." He was annoyed but only mildly so. "It's not a character flaw, Booth. It is just how you are. You respect women, sure. You're not a misogynist or anything."

"I like women ... most of them."

"But let's face it ... you like to mix business with pleasure."

"Bones is different."

"Aren't they all?"

"Bones is special ... a damn genius." He laughed. "Smartest person I have ever known."

"And pretty?"

"Possibly the most beautiful woman I have ever met in real life." He shot a look at Maggie. "Present company excluded."

"Of course," she laughed. "And I bet three days dust and these fatigues really do it for you."

"I am a man of many tastes." He leaned in to kiss her.

"Yes you are." She pushed him away. "Don't change the subject. So she is smart and beautiful, but what .. five years to too much for you ... time to move on?"

"She left first."

"Right ... so instead of staying put and moving on, you went to a war zone to what? Do your duty?"

"Seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"Hey, don't get me wrong. I am glad you are here. Felt like I was spitting in the wind with these guys, but having two of us echoing the same message, something might get through."

"Maybe."

"So about this partner slash lover."

"Nope," he said ruefully. "Partners only."

"Losing your touch there, Booth."

"As I said Bones was ... is special."

"Special ... as in Special Class? Special Bus?" Booth made a face that said he would neither confirm nor deny her assertions. "So ... what ... Idiot Savant?"

"No ... full on Genius ... and apparently no issue with sex."

"A lesbian?"

"No ... but," he grinned slyly and scanned Maggie up and down letting his tongue slide over his lips. "Interesting idea though."

"Puhlease." She slapped at him. "Not interested ... I need something hard between the sheets."

"I remember that about you."

"Stop changing the subject." A realization washed over her. "OH MY GOD ... you fell in love? Sucker. You should know better by now. We are not the marrying kind."

"Yeah well ..."

"Was it love at first sight or was it something that you got sucked into like quicksand?"

Booth shook his head. "Little of both, I guess."

"So?"

"So ... she wasn't interested."

"Did you ask?"

"Yeah," he hedged.

"Did you ask?" she repeated.

"Sort of ... yeah ... I mean ... not in so many words. Close enough. She knew what I meant."

"You really are losing your touch."

"You have to go slow with Bones. She had a pretty rough time of it as a kid and figured out a way to live in the world that didn't include trusting people."

"Join the damn club ... we meet on the second Thursday of every month." She shook her head. "So she trusted you ... as a partner ... and you couldn't figure out how to bridge the divide."

"I think she would have eventually ... but the job got to her. She wasn't cut out for that kind of life."

"Temperance Brennan? Dr. Temperance Brennan was not cut out for death and destruction? Are you kidding?"

"What do you know about her?"

"I Googled her, brother," she stated like it was a dumb question. "Before you and she ever hooked up ... Anthropologist. Identified bodies of genocide in parts of the world that are too dangerous for me to go. Even before she met you, she was digging up bones and dealing with all kinds of mayhem. And those books, please ... only read one or two ... but she knows about the sick and twisted mind of murders. And she taught me a thing or two about sex, I am not ashamed to say." Booth shook his head. "Tell me you are not Agent Andy."

"Nope ... well at least not that part."

"Well whoever he is, I'd like to meet him."

Booth got a faraway look in his eyes. "The job got to her." He was responsible for that.

"The Gravedigger?" Maggie asked. "Please! Boy they say men are stupid, but you really are dense."

"How do you know about the Gravedigger?"

"The internet is a powerful tool, son ... Need to learn how to use it."

"She was having nightmares."

"Look I don't know this bitch, and I will probably never get to meet her."

"Really would prefer you don't call my partner a _**bitch**_," Booth scolded.

"Term of endearment, Boothy-boy. But she was doing that kind of work long before she meet you."

"In a lab."

"I don't call Guatemala a lab ... cesspool maybe ... at least the part she was in. I don't know what you think you know, but I haven't laid eyes on her and I can tell she left because of you."

"Don't think so."

"Think so ... think you cracked that shell and she got scared and ran ... and you, you big dumb idiot, let her."

"You don't tell Bones what to do."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to help you sleep at night, Booth."

Maggie's words hit home - not that Booth would let on. It was pretty much the only time they talked about Brennan. The rest of their time together was spend working the mission, talking strategies and occasionally finding some solitude. The conversation was safe and easy. She was a friend with benefits but that was all Booth needed. God knows, Maggie needed it. It wasn't romantic. It wasn't picnics and handholding. On the handful of times they could, the sex was raw, dirty, quick and barely satisfying. If they were back in the states rather than in a war zone, Booth could see it being a really good companionship. Not love and marriage, but two lonely people asking just enough of the other to take the edge off the loneliness.

December came and Maggie when home. Was going to be a long six months without her and it gave Booth more time to think.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**January 2011**

Booth had just come back from a six day mission that was not the by the book scenario that was promised. (When was it ever?) Before he had a chance to put down his gear or grab some chow, he was called to his CO's office. That was never a good sign.

"Booth ... phone call from the states."

Booth was confused and before the panic could set in, he took the phone. Naturally his CO didn't leave. "Booth," he said.

"Booth? Jesus - God!" It was Maggie Walker. "You need to get back here to DC. There is a transport waiting for you. Two MPs will be coming with you. I cleared it down the chain of command. Go! We can talk when you get here." She wasn't making any sense. Booth demanded some answers. "The Gravedigger ... Heather Taffet, she escaped. Yesterday."

"How are you involved with this?"

"Temp assignment to the FBI to work this case. You can thank me later, get your ass on that transport." Booth needed a little more prompting. It was so out of the blue. "We found something in her cell, Booth. It's bad Booth. "Your people are in danger. Hell you are in danger, but that seems redundant. "

"My people?"

"Anyone who worked the case with you."

"Brennan?"

"No."

"No?" It was time to panic.

"No ... I don't know where she is. Not on Maluku, not for months. I got some people working on it."

"Where the hell is she?"

"Get on that transport, Booth. Maybe I will have something by time you get back."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Maggie did seem to have taken all the necessary precautions and had been working on where Brennan was. Booth was brought up to speed, but couldn't deal with Taffet until he found Brennan. Because no one had seen her in that length of time, Booth chose to believe that Taffet hadn't gotten to her. On the other hand, Taffet appeared to be the only one looking for her. It took some doing but he found that she had left Maluku less than two weeks after she arrived but according her accountant, hadn't been back to DC or in contact with him. That was where Booth started. It took some doing and a court order, but he got her financial records and found that the last thing she charged was a plane ticket to Florida. Then nothing. He finally found a K Reichs on a hopper to one of the Caribbean Islands. Then one phone call to one official netted him the answer he was looking for - Brennan was there.

He arrived in the morning, found her bungalow and was told she was out on a charter. It wasn't until that moment that Sully entered his conscious mind. It had been back there since the moment he discovered the Florida flight. He found him down the beach from Brennan's bungalow.

"Booth?" Sully said easily. "Was wondering when you were going to drop by. Thought you were fighting a war or some such."

"Where is she?" Booth demanded surprised by how angry he was getting.

"I'm fine ... fine ... you?" Sully teased.

"I don't care why she is here ... or what is going on ... I need to find her?"

"She'll be back in a few hours ... sunrise charter around the island." Sully realized that Booth was not jealous, he was scared and mad. "What is going on, Booth?"

"Heather Taffet escaped."

"Taffet? The Gravedigger." Booth nodded. "And you think she is coming after Tempe."

"There is compelling evidence."

"So what is the plan?"

"I need to get her back to DC - protective custody," he tried to sound like it was all business. "Then we need to find Taffet and put her back where she belongs."

"Or kill her trying."

"Whatever works."

"I'll call her back," Sully said. Booth was tired of waiting, but at least Sully seemed to be sure that she was fine a few hours previous. Booth didn't recognize her voice on the radio. There was a lot of static, but he would have thought he would be able to pick her voice out of a crowd of a million. "We can meet her at the dock in an hour."

"Fine." Booth started to walk away.

"Booth," Sully called him back. "Whatever you are thinking about this ... don't."

"Thinking about what this?" he feigned disinterest.

Sully couldn't tell Booth what he believed since it was based on some information that Tempe had given him in confidence. "Give her a chance to explain and go easy when you break it to her about Taffet, OK?"

"I have known Brennan longer and better than you have ... in spite of whatever they hell is going on here."

"See, Booth ... that's what I mean. Don't jump to conclusions."

Booth blew him off. He would be damned if he was going to take advice about his partner from her lover. Soon he could focus on what was important - finding Taffet.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Forty-Five Minutes Later**

"I've got her," Booth said to Maggie Walker. "We'll be back on the next plane." He snapped his phone shut.

"Booth?" She was more surprised than anything.

"Get your stuff ... we need to get back to DC," he barked.

"Nice to see you too. I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are ... Taffet is out."

"Out?" Brennan's voice was weak and strained.

"Out ... as in escaped ... you would know that if - She is out and looking for payback. So get your stuff, we are headed back to D.C. Chop! Chop!"

"Booth," Brennan protested.

"Tempe," Sully interjected. "Booth is right. If Taffet is out, you need to be someplace where you can be protected. If Taffet is out looking for you or any of your crew, you need to help find her and put her back where she belongs."

"Ok. Let's go!"

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Ok ... so now we know how they each got to that dock on some Caribbean Island eight months after they said their goodbyes. Anyone still interested in what comes next?**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 3**

**A/N:** Thank to all of you for playing along. September is rapidly approaching and if you are a spoiler hound (like me) you have an idea what is coming, HOWEVER I think just like most spoilers it is just a lot of tempest in a teapot. Go back and read some spoilers from previous years, I think we can trust Hart and Crew to do us good service. Just in case ... let's play our game.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Why did you come to get me?" Brennan asked when the plane had finally reached its cruising altitude. Booth hadn't said a word to her above what was vitally necessary. He had spent most of the time on the phone standing out of earshot but watching her. There was a Secret Service agent too, Mike Sorenson, who was assigned to watch them both. He was less than quiet - eerily so.

"Thought I would save your life," he snapped.

"But why did you come yourself?" she pressed on. "Why didn't you just send Agent Sorenson?"

"Excuse me?"

"You appear to be very annoyed with me and have spent much of your time on the phone. You clearly would rather be somewhere else, so I wonder why you came yourself."

"Still not very good with the psychology, eh Bones?" He pulled a file out of his bag and handed it to her. "Why don't you start working the evidence – it's what you are good at. We have already wasted too much time."

"Time? When did she escape?"

"Five days ago."

"And you just came to tell me now?"

"It took me three days to find out where you were," he snapped harshly. "You could have left a note, forwarding address, some damned bread crumbs … something."

"I wasn't hiding Booth."

"Yeah, well … your NOT HIDING has wasted three days of my time that could have been spent tracking Taffet."

"What about Hodgins?"

"Everyone is safe for the moment," he barked again. "Including your brother and his family and your father."

"Why are they involved?"

"I told you … she is looking for payback. You will see in that file that Taffet knows everything about everyone of us including our families and friends." He bit back his anger. "Well I guess not everything because Sully wasn't in the mix."

"Sully? Is that why you are angry with me?"

"I'm not angry," he said through gritted teeth. "Actually I am. I got yanked out of a war zone to be told that my son was in danger – MY SON, Bones! Then I discover that you are nowhere to be found. I have been up for three days tracking you down … from Maluku to North Carolina to some remote Caribbean Island ... And to find you playing out a scene from _**Blue Lagoon**_ with Sully is just a little -."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means I'm tired." He exhaled forcefully. "Look, we are safe for the moment. Why don't you read and I will get some sleep."

Brennan opened the file. It was more than a little disturbing. It was a pages and pages of names, addresses, schedules and current pictures of Cam and Michelle, Angela and Hodgins, Angela's Father, Sweets and Daisy, Zach Addy, Jared and Padme, Caroline Julian and a young woman Brennan assumed was her daughter, Max, Russ and the girls and Parker and Rebecca. There were also pictures of Booth and some woman in uniform. They looked like they were closer than comrades. There was nothing on Brennan; only notes that she had returned from Maluku, she had flown to Florida in early June; her apartment was still leased to her but that her car had not moved in months. "What is this?" she asked. Booth was only pretending to sleep. He was hyperaware of everything she was doing. He could feel hear heart begin to race, hear the stress and distress in her voice. He also knew that it was overly mean to not talk her through it, but he was still angry - irrationally so. "Booth?"

"It was found … in Taffet's cell," he said gruffly and turned away from her. "In your last book."

"My last Book?"

Booth didn't say anything else. He left Brennan to work herself through the ramifications of what she was holding.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan walked into the lab at the Jeffersonian with Sorenson hard on her heels. He was never to be more than three feet from her at all times per Booth's instructions. There was no one on the platform. Brennan had assumed that people would be working on something, but there was no one. She climbed the stairs to her office and was immediately reminded that it was no longer her office. She went to find Cam.

"Sweetie," Angela called from her office. "Oh my God … we were so worried about you." She came over and hugged Brennan hard. Hodgins, Cam and Sweets followed suit. They were all on edge. "Did Booth really find you in the Caribbean with Sully?"

"Yes," she quipped. She didn't like being challenged about where she had been. "I don't understand what we are supposed to be doing," she stated. "There is no evidence. There is no body. We have nothing to go on … nothing for us to look at."

"We are investigating Taffet," Hodgins said. "Everything we knew about her was transferred here for the trial. We never sent it back. The stuff from her cell is here too. So we are going to comb through her life to see if we can find another alias or something that might lead us to where she might go. Comparing it to everything we have on her from the prison."

"The FBI is following the money," Cam said.

"The money?"

"The money she had gotten from the kidnappings. But she has covered her tracks well."

Brennan held up the file. "I say we start with where she got this information on us." She tossed it down. "Someone had to have been supplying her. That someone was probably the one to help her escape."

"We know who helped her escape," Booth barked walking up to the group. They all turned to look at him. "We found him; stuffed into the trunk of his car and pushed into a lake in Maryland. He was a guard at the prison. His name was William Burton."

"Burton? William Burton?" Brennan asked. "Her husband's name was William Burton."

"Bones, you're a genius," Booth said sarcastically. It felt like the temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees as everyone avoided eye contact. It was never fun when Mom and Dad were fighting. "He got himself assigned to that prison a month after she got there," Booth went on. "Before that he was a third rate analyst for the CIA under the name of Jeffrey Chalmers. They are sending the car and the body here. You squints do your stuff and do it fast." He pulled out his phone, dialed and walked away.

All eyes came back to Brennan as if she could explain what was happening or why Booth was so mad. Luckily she didn't have to say anything as the body was brought in. Hodgins, Cam and a couple of other techs that Brennan didn't know went down to start processing it. Sweets went back to Angela's office which had been set up as a make shift headquarters for all things Taffet to continue to work the evidence they found in her cell. Angela and Brennan were left alone.

"How are you really, sweetie?" she said taking Brennan's hand.

"I don't really know," she said honestly. "I have been out of this for so long, I never expected ..."

"Yeah, kind of yanks the rug out from under you doesn't it."

"Why is Booth so angry?"

"He was scared, sweetie. We all were - still are. He didn't get the information on Taffet's escape for like 24 hours, then it took him time to get back. He could only do so much. Taffet threatened his son, that is pretty huge."

"Is Parker alright? Is he safe?"

"Yes, he is fine. But then for Booth to discover that you were nowhere to be found. That no one knew where you were. It scared us all, sweetie. We thought for sure that Taffet had gotten to you."

"I wasn't hiding, Angela."

"No one suggested that you were."

"Anger doesn't seem like an appropriate response to fear."

"It may not be appropriate but it is certainly understandable."

"I don't understand it."

"He'll calm down, sweetie. Once we put Taffet away for good things can settle back down."

"Taffet won't live to see another trial," Brennan announced definitively. Angela followed Brennan's gaze to the lab floor. Booth was yelling at one of the agents who was bringing the evidence. Everything about his stature said that he was ready to tear someone apart.

"If she goes after Parker ... well all I have to say is God help her."

"If she goes after any one of us, then no one will be able to help her." Angela got the feeling Brennan was no longer referring to Booth. It sometimes scared Angela that Brenna could be so matter of fact about death and killing. "Are we sure she is going after any of us?," Brennan went on. "Maybe this is just a distraction. Maybe she is trying to get us to focus on protecting ourselves and all she wants to do is get away. Far away. Beyond our reach."

"I thought of that," Sweets said interrupting them. "And I have talked to everyone she talked with at the prison. All she ever talked about was getting out and getting back at ... well, us. Though I am not sure how exactly I got roped into this mess. I think I need to go back to the prison again. There is something I am missing." He walked away. He too was followed by a Secret Service Agent.

Brennan turned her attention back to Booth who was talking to a woman in a suit. She was as tall as Booth and clearly in great shape - strong, firm, tone. She was blonde, blue eyed and not so much beautiful as well groomed. She didn't look like Booth's type, but then again Brennan never thought she was his type. It then occurred to Brennan that that blonde was the woman from the picture. She was the one who has been dressed in fatigues with Booth. She had been in Afghanistan with him. "Who is that?" she asked.

"Her name is Walker, Maggie Walker. She is a DCIS Agent who was in Afghanistan with Booth. She came back about a month ago. She got assigned to this case ... she was the one who arranged for Booth to get leave to come back. She is good."

"Oh," Brennan's heart twinged. They looked perfect together. The woman stepped closer, pressed Booth's hand very subtly and said something to him that made him smile slightly. They looked like they were going to kiss. Booth pressed her hand back and stepped back to widen the space but to keep talking. "Oh, I see."

"He is not in love with her," Angela announced.

"Not yet ... but he will be ... he should be." Brennan felt hot tears filling her eyes. She shook them away hoping that Angela wouldn't notice.

"What about you and Sully?"

Brennan turned to Angela. "Nothing about me and Sully. We weren't living together."

"Sweetie, why did you go there?"

"It's a long story Ange, and we have work to do." She walked off to review what they had been doing thus far.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan had been working for fifteen straight hours – through the night. It was odd to think that not 24 hours prior she was on a boat in the Caribbean with four college students looking to spend some of dad's money – enjoying a new way of living. It was odder still that she was back in the zone almost immediately; her brain working at super speed as if she never left.

"You need to get some sleep, Temperance," Booth said. "Not going to do any of us any good if you exhaust yourself."

She didn't know how long he had been there. There was a time when she could sense him. "I'm fine, Booth." She kept focus on the paperwork in front of her.

"When did you eat last?"

"I'll get something later," she dismissed.

"Sorenson is back at 10:00," he told her. "Have him take you home. Do exactly what he tells you to do, Ok?"

"I understand the danger we are in, Booth," she dismissed coldly. "I will do as expected."

"As expected for you … or for me?" She turned to glare at him. "Just trying to keep you safe, Bones."

"I understand. I will do what I am told." She took a deep breath. "Thank you."

"Yeah." He should have left but something was keeping him there. He didn't want to be angry with her anymore. "Are you OK?"

She leaned back and rubbed her eyes. "No," she said into her hands. "Yesterday I was warm and my biggest concern was what I should have for breakfast." She sighed and leaned back down over the paperwork. "I'll be fine … just need to get back into the swing of things." He continued to stand there. She gave him a sideways glance. "Are you OK?"

He snorted a laugh. "Honestly … I'm safer here than I was over there."

"Then I am glad you are back."

"Yeah," he dismissed. "Too bad the same can't be said for the rest of us." She was glad he still considered the people at the Jeffersonian - and her - an US. Still he stood in her doorway reluctant to leave.

She sat back to give him her full attention. "Are you OK?" she asked again only softer. "I can't imagine -"

"No, you can't," he cut her off sharply but then softened his tone. "And I am glad you can't. You have seen enough," he said protectively. He took a seat near her on the couch looking at what she had been studying. "Someday we will talk about it, maybe, but not now, OK?"

"Ok." She was relieved that he had implied that they would get through whatever was between them at the moment enough for there to be a someday with trust and communication. She watched him for a moment as he read through her notes. "This wasn't the plan," she announced.

"No," he almost laughed. "No, it wasn't. But you know what they say … Best laid plans of mice and men …"

"I have never understood that saying," she said in all seriousness. "What plans do mice make?" She smiled warmly.

Booth looked at her in surprise. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Did I?"

"It sounded like you did," he turned toward her. His whole face softened. "It's good to see you, Bones."

"I'm glad to see you too." She took his hand in hers and pressed it. It was a simple gesture, a minor contact, but she felt the tension she was experiencing release. They looked into each other's eyes deeply not wanting to talk, not wanting to disturb the moment, just happy to be in each other presence. He leaned closer. He was about to her about to take her into an embrace that he had thought about ever since they departed, ever since he had seen her on the dock. She would have more than welcomed it. His phone rang breaking the spell.

"Booth," he said standing up to move away from her. "Are you sure? … Fine, I'll be right there." He snapped his phone shut. "Sweets thinks he has something from one of the guards at the prison. I'm going to head out there."

Brennan stood up. "Let me just wash my face, OK?"

"No," he said almost too abruptly. "No, you should get some rest."

"Don't you want me to interview him with you?"

"No." He was embarrassed. "Sweets is there and … and Agent Walker."

Brennan realized that they were not partners on this 'case.' "Right … of course … Ok. I will just stay here working the information that we have."

"You really need to get some rest there, Bones."

"I'm fine."

He was not please with that answer, but wasn't about to fight with her. "I'll let you know what we find out."

"Right … ok."

She watched Booth leave and followed him out to watch from the balcony. O'Casey (the agent who replaced Sorenson for the night shift) was up and watching her. "Just going to the wash up," she explained but the agent still dogged her steps. Brennan looked down to the lab floor.

Booth hadn't left yet. He was hovering by the door talking with Maggie on the phone. He needed to take Brennan with him. She was his partner; she was more than involved and she was a damned genius. Maggie was trying to talk him out of it for all the right reasons, she had no secret agenda. Booth still felt that Brennan should be involved in the investigation. He turned to head back up the stairs to get her.

"Booth," a voice called to him from the hall. He turned and saw Sully marching in with two bags. "Booth, what's the word?" Sully asked as if he had a right to know.

"No word," he said evenly. His face dropped and his eyes hardened.

"You going to try to keep me from helping?" Sully asked when he saw Booth's expression change.

"You don't have a badge, you don't have a gun … you are little more than a civilian and will be treated as such."

"I can live with that."

"Maybe you can't. Taffet is targeting friends and family. I can't put another resource on you. So you tell me, do you want to be a part of this?"

"You know I do."

"Fine … nothing official. You can work the data we are collating from Taffet's effects." He nodded up to Angela's office and saw that Brennan was watching. He turned back to Sully. "She goes nowhere without Secret Service, got it? NOWHERE! And don't get in his way. She is first priority and he will shoot you or leave you for dead to save her, do you understand?"

Sully all but smiled. "I know the drill, Booth. I won't do anything to jeopardize Tempe's safety."

"Right," he scoffed and walked out.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Why are you here?" Brennan asked Sully.

"Cause you need me," he said simply pulling her into an embrace that she reluctantly returned. "I can help Tempe. I can be objective."

"You think I can't?"

"I think there is a woman out there that has a hate on for you and there is no telling what she will and will not do. She could kill you, should could slowly pick off your friends and that would really screw with your objectivity. Let me do this for you, Tempe."

She shook her head not liking the idea, but agreed. "I am more worried about Booth."

"He seemed a little put out the two times we talked."

"It is understandable … he has been fighting a war and to come back to this … to be worried about Parker. There is only so much a man can take."

"Booth is a big boy."

Brennan's eyes flared. She almost said any number of things that she would regret. But remained silent.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan had taken a power nap in her old office. When she woke up the rest of the team were there and working. It was still very early. Booth walked in with some coffee when he saw that she was awake. She took it and thought about saying that she was not using caffeine any more, but decided that a little jolt might help get through the next few hours. She had taken the book - her book - the one found in Taffet's cell, but she hadn't had a chance to look at it.

"Do you think you will find a lead in there?" Booth asked nodded to the book.

"I don't know. I am assuming before the documents and pictures were pulled from it, they were catalogued by page number etc."

"The FBI is not new at this Bones, but what difference could it make?"

"I am hoping there might be some correlation to the events of the novel and what was stored between those pages."

"I'm sure it is in the pile somewhere."

Brennan flipped through the pages hoping to find notes, or highlights or something to suggest that Taffet had been using it as more than just a receptacle for her data collection. There was nothing. She flipped to the dedication page. She tensed. She started flipping quickly through the pages. "Booth!" she exclaimed.

"What? Did she make notes in the margins, correct your spelling or something."

"This is not my book."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is not my book." She pulled off the dust jacket. "This is not my book."

"So what ... she put your dust cover on another book."

"No ... no ... you don't understand ... this is her book. She wrote this. She must have gotten it printed and bound."

"What are you talking about?"

Brennan thrust the book at him opened to the dedication page.

_**For Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth ...**_

_**catch me if you can, catch me before it is too late ...**_

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** Comments are encouraged.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 4**

**A/N:** Looks like our contingent has formed. Just a couple of hundred readers waiting to find out what happens next. Just for this little band of Bones-Brothers-&-Sisters - the first shipper reward ...

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Where is Dr. Brennan?" Cam asked.

"Booth took her home so she could get some sleep," Angela said. "He had to practically handcuff her and carry her out."

"She is feeling responsible," Sweets said without paying much attention.

"Thanks for the insight," Hodgins quipped.

Sweets, Cam, Hodgins and Angela were all reading sections of the book for clues, inconsistencies anything that might help them know what her next move was going to be. Angela had scanned it and printed copies for each of them. She was also running a program on it cataloguing the events and places in the book.

"This is bad," Sweets said.

"It could certainly use a spell check," Angela commented.

"And a grammar check ... wasn't she supposed to be a lawyer?"

"U.S. Attorney."

"No, guys, you're missing my point. This is BAD. I mean really bad … like mega bad … like … you know … "

"Bad?" Cam offered.

"We are not critiquing the book, Sweets," Hodgins said flipping the page.

"Neither am I," Sweets defended. "This chick is cracker-poo."

"Is that official shrink-speak?"

"She is sick and twisted," Angela stated. "But we knew that."

"Yeah … well … I've been on the other end of that sick and twisted brain, and let me tell you it's worse than she knows." Angela reached out to take her husband's hand. Hodgins accepted it and slammed the book shut. "She has absolutely no idea what it is like. I say we bury her alive so she can do some real research for the sequel." He got up and left the room.

"This is hitting him pretty hard … all of us I guess." She got up and followed after him.

**-x-x-x-**

Hodgins was pacing in the lounge. Angela stood back and let him pace. She knew him well enough to know that he needed to be moving.

"How did this happen, Ange?" he asked not expecting an answer. "I mean really, how did this happen?" It was still rhetorical. "And what are we supposed to do? We have nothing. She left nothing in the car or on victim. I mean I can tell you everywhere that car has been for the past three years. Cam can tell you how he died. I can tell you that he worked in a prison and lived in Maryland. I can tell you a ton of other things about him … but there was nothing that pointed to Taffet." Angela moved closer to him but still didn't try to touch him. "That book … as sick and twisted as it is … will not give us anything."

"Not so sure about that, babe. It was a clear taunt."

"Maybe … maybe not. Maybe it is just another blind alley. Just a way to get us to waste our time while she waits to pick us off one by one."

"Need to give it a little bit more time, honey. I am running an analysis on it right now … if there is some form of logic in there or something … we will find it."

"I am not good at stuff like that … give me a bug, give me some slime, give me a particulates to identity ... Hell give me a major government conspiracy, then I am your man."

"You are my man," she said with a beautiful smile. With that he took her into his arms and held on tightly. "We will find her, sweetie. She won't beat us."

"Yeah," he said but didn't mean it.

"Did you find out where the book was printed?"

"It wasn't at prison print shop." He said dismissing her idea. "But the publish date was after she went into prison."

"So where did she get it published? Someone must have printed it for her."

"So?"

"So that someone will have more information." She leaned in to hug him.

He pulled her close than turned her such that he could rest his hand on her abdomen. "You shouldn't be dealing with this. Not in your condition."

"It is not a condition ... I am pregnant. We are pregnant, Jack. I am fine. I won't let anything happen to this baby."

He kissed her. "This was supposed to be the happiest time of our lives."

"And it will be ... this is just a little bump in the road. Nothing, not even psycho Taffet is going to ruin this for us, OK?"

"I love you, Mrs. Hodgins."

"And it is a good thing that I love you or I wouldn't let you call me that." She smiled brightly and kissed him.

**-x-x-x-**

"This is a memoir," Sweets announced. "I knew that woman had an ego but this is pretty telling. I knew she couldn't NOT let the world know how brilliant she was."

"Brilliant?"

"In a totally psychotic, sociopathic, cracker-poo kind of way."

"But each of her scenarios is off from reality," Cam pointed out. "The locations are different. The victims are different. The only thing that is the same is the container that she buried her victims in."

"Did you read the chapter with the beer vat? Did you notice that her victim was a young woman, not two young men."

"What is your point, Sweets?"

"That this wasn't written in prison. This wasn't written over the past several months. She wrote this before each event. Like she was planning it."

"And what? You are upset because she didn't rewrite it to make it more realistic?"

"No, but the one with the two scientists in the car .. that was letter perfect, up to the point that they got away."

"I don't know what you are driving at, Sweets."

"I don't either, but I think it is important." Sweets went on, "There is also the point of view that is strange."

"Strange how?"

"The book is written in two blended points of view ... First Person and Third Person Omniscient. That is rare."

"I am sure her editor would have fixed that for her."

"You are missing my point. It tells us something about Taffet. It tells us that when she is planning and acting on these abductions she is in control and proud of her work, but once the people go in the ground she is no longer in control. Hence the reason for the one and only phone call for ransom. She is not taking responsibility for the outcome. She sets the stage and lets the rest of the players finish the story. As if she is not invested."

"Except for the money."

"Do you also notice that she does not kill her victims ... in the book no one dies. Each of the victims is freed. The ransom is paid and they are discovered and saved."

"I suppose you are right," Cam said. "I didn't notice. What I notice is that Booth's abduction is not in here, and the last one we have never heard about.

"The young woman who was locked in a jail cell of an abandon jail house?"

"Yeah ... that one." Cam flipped to that section of the book. "Page 327 ... she sure is long winded. Anyway, the poor girl will not die of suffocation or by being blown up. She will die of starvation. And there was no phone call demanding ransom."

"There is something else that is strange. Do you find the name _**Petunia Waxman**_ important?"

"Are any of the names important?" Cam asked.

"Very telling. The scientists in the car in the quarry ... Joy Brandon and John Hopkins."

"So what are you thinking about this last character?"

"Petunia Waxman," Sweets repeated. A look of panic flooded his face. "DAISY!"

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan dragged herself out of bed; she had to get back to work. She didn't remember coming home, yet there she was. Fully dressed with just a blanket thrown over her. The last thing she remembered was Booth ordering her home for sleep and escorting her out of the lab. It was odd being home - familiar and safe, but odd. Apparently the accountant had continued to pay for the housekeeper to come once a week as there was no dust anywhere. It was like she never left. She needed a hot shower, some caffeine and maybe something that wasn't take out - something fresh like fruit. She stumbled to the bathroom and waited for the water to heat up. She studied herself in the mirror. She hadn't paid much attention to her appearance on the island. Her hair was usually pulled back in a messy pony tail, she almost never wore make up, and her clothes were not so much fashionable as functional. Looking back at her at that moment was a fresh healthy complexion with maybe a bit too much sun. Her hair was definitely sun bleached but still a deep chestnut brown with some lovely sun glow highlights. She had lost some weight that was evident in her face. The thing that struck her the most was the trepidation in her eyes. It wasn't full on fear, but an uneasiness. What struck her is that look, that trepidation had never left her. It might have been masked, it might have been hidden, it might have been temporarily forgotten - but it had always been there. It had been there all her life even before her parents left, before she became an anthropologist, before she met Booth. Her whole life had been about facing her fears and moving beyond them - not facing them down and overcoming them, just moving past them. It wasn't Taffet who put it there. It wasn't anyone - no one other than Temperance Brennan herself. She smiled at herself. If she put it there, she could damn sure take it away.

**-x-x-x-**

Booth heard the shower go on. He roused and stretched and brought himself to standing. He checked his watch. It said 6:18 - but that could have been AM or PM. He hadn't slept much either in the past several days (actually months) and while the couch in Bones' apartment wasn't his first choice, he didn't want to leave her. Sorenson was outside (or maybe it was O'Casey now). Either way she was protected, but he didn't want to leave her alone. He dragged her out of the lab and she fell asleep in the car. He helped her up to the apartment; she sleepily protested all the way. He watched for a moment after he laid her down and covered her with a blanket. He was still completely in love with her. He couldn't help it. He didn't even want to try. He wanted their partnership back. If that was all she had to offer, all she would take from him, then that would be enough. He noticed the bag that Sully had brought back sitting by her closet and wondered if he could still be her partner if she were with someone else. He wondered if she would still want to be his partner if she were with someone else. On his way to the living room he was giving some hope. The other bag that Sully had brought with him was on the bed in the guest room. Maybe Sully was right, maybe Booth shouldn't jump to conclusions.

**-x-x-x-**

Booth had made some coffee and was already on his second cup by time Brennan came into the kitchen. If she was surprised to see him there she didn't show it. In fact it felt normal for him to be there. Silently he offered her a cup which she took gratefully.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"The shower was good ... how did I get here?"

"I took you home ... Sorenson is outside so if you want me to leave ..."

"Why would I want you to leave?" she asked. She noticed that he had slept on the couch. "Booth, there is a second bedroom."

"The couch was fine; I have slept in worse places ... recently in fact," he smiled. "You already have a house guest."

She looked confused. "Sully? Is he here?" Booth shook his head. _Elephant in the room alert!_ "I'm hungry," she said by way of changing the subject. "Don't suppose we could go down to the diner and grab a quick dinner before we get back to it - or is it breakfast time?"

He smiled thinking that it would be so nice just to pretend that the last eight months never happened; that this Taffet thing was just another case. "Probably not a good idea ... too many windows."

"Do you think she just wants to kill us?" Brennan asked.

"Not quickly, that's for sure, but I am sure she has something in mind. Something befitting what she thinks we did to her."

"We put her in jail."

"Yes we did ... and we will do it again," he assured her.

"I wonder if she will live long enough to see the inside of a jail cell again." Brennan's voice cracked. "I have never hated someone as much as I hate this woman. I don't like it."

Instinctively Booth pulled her into an embrace which she welcomed. It was meant to be comforting but almost immediately it became something else. It was about eight months of separation. About releasing the fear that one or the other of them would not make it back from their sojourn. It was about reestablishing a physical connection after so many days and nights of holding on to only a memory and a wish. She turned her face toward his, searched his eyes and brought her lips to his - tentatively at first, unsure of her actions. Booth response took away all her uncertainty. He had imagined such a kiss, such a connection, but to have it realized and initiated by her had been too much to really hope for. Breathlessly they folded back into an embrace. She was holding him so tightly he dared not move or pull away. He returned it.

"I am so glad you are alright," she sighed. "I worried about you."

"I was pretty worried about you too."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He pulled back to look at her and had to tilt her face up to see her eyes. "Sorry?" Booth tensed.

"Sorry you had to waste time looking for me – worried about me." She had other things to be sorry about, the kiss not being one of them.

Booth released the breath he was holding. "Why did you go there, Bones? Why did you go ... and not tell ... anyone?" He left the part out about Sully but it was more than implied.

"I didn't mean to ... I mean I didn't purposely NOT tell anyone. Well I didn't tell anyone, but it wasn't a decision ... I was not hiding Booth."

"Ok ... but -."

"It made sense at the time ... it still makes sense now," she said stepping out of his arms. She looked back at him suddenly aware that he was thinking something completely different. "I would have been back. I would have been here when the year ended. I just needed to get out of my head for a while ... out of my life." She pushed a hand through her damp hair. "You were gone. Angela was gone. I didn't have a job. I didn't have a purpose. I was given a time out ... a twelve month reprieve from my life. So I did something I would never normally do - I walked away. I needed to find another way to live."

"What happened in Maluku?" he asked thinking that she should start at the beginning.

"I am not supposed to talk about it," she said moving away to the dining room table.

"I'm your partner, Bones ... you can tell me anything. I won't break your confidence."

"Are we?" she asked. "Are we still partners?"

"Yes, absolutely."

There was too much evidence that pointed to the fact that they weren't partners at the moment but she chose not to bring that up. "The find in Maluku was a hoax," she stated. "I knew it immediately. I suspect the organizers of the expedition knew that too. It was probably why they didn't originally contact me about heading up the expedition."

"You do have a reputation for finding truth over anything else," he said proudly. "And not caring whose toes you step on to do it."

"They didn't want my truth. They let me out of the contract provided I not speak about it to anyone – they even paid me out. I gave the money to a charity in Indonesia for children. They had two other anthropologists there ready to lie; they didn't need me. So if I said anything. If I reported my findings, even cursory findings, it would have been a debate between me and them. They were highly respected in our field as well - though they have lost my respect. I agreed and left. I was there for less than two weeks."

"Ten days," he corrected.

She was only mildly surprised that he knew that. "I came home and there was nothing for me here. And then I thought about Dr. Wyatt and his saying that I was not able to lead a purposeless life. At that moment I had no purpose. I made a decision. I chose to leave; to take a vacation. To clear my head." She looked back at him. "I would have been back." He just nodded pretending like he understood her reason. "I know what I want now," she said earnestly searching his eyes. "But ... but I am too late."

The way she was looking at him gave him hope, but Bones was so literal. He needed to be sure. "Too late?"

"Yes -." She was about to explain but the door opened unexpectedly.

Booth was out of his chair in an instant gun drawn with a bead on the heart of the intruder.

"HEY!" Sully said with his hands in the air. "Friendly."

Maggie Walker walked in behind him. "Stand down Sergeant Major," she ordered. "We have a situation. We are unable to locate Daisy Wick."

Brennan turned to exit toward the bedroom. "Bones?" Booth called after her.

"I need to get dressed." The tone of her voice was hard and cold.

Booth turned back to Maggie and Sully. "So? Where was she last?"

"She returned home from Maluku before Thanksgiving and had taken a job at the Natural History Museum in New York. She didn't come to work yesterday."

"And why wasn't she under surveillance?" Booth barked.

"There was no reason to think that Taffet would have targeted her," Walked stated. "There was no information on her in Taffet's file."

"There was in the book," Sully offered.

"The book?"

"The last chapter described a young curator at a museum being abducted and taken to an abandon jail. As far as I know there was never such a case of Taffet's. And if we read the book as if it is chronological, it was the last one."

"Why was there was no ransom demand?" Walker asked.

"This isn't about the money anymore ... this is about getting to me and Bones." Booth ran a hand through his hair.

"Booth, if you start getting personally invested in this case ... if you lose your objectivity ... I am taking you off it? Understand? I won't hesitate."

"Of course I am personally invested," he shouted at her. "These are my people ... my friends ... you bet your ass I am personally invested."

"Objectivity, Booth," she shot back at him.

"Don't even try to bench me on this Margaret," he warned.

"Then stay focused."

Brennan had returned and witnessed the fight. She had seen Booth angry before but that was a very interesting interaction particularly because it was Walker's personal connection to Booth that got her to ask for the case. She stepped up to Sully and handed him a cell phone.

"What is this?" Sully asked.

"I found it in the bag you packed, assumed it was yours."

"Nope ... not mine." He thought for a moment. "It was in the bag?"

"Yes."

"I didn't pack a cell phone."

Booth came over and took the phone from Sully. "This is not your phone?" he asked Brennan. She shook her head. He looked at Sully who also shook his head. "And you didn't pack it from the island?" Again Sully shook his head. "How long ago did you bring the bags here?"

"Must have been yesterday between ... 3:00 and 5:00. When did you get here?"

"19:30," he said still thinking in military time.

The phone was off. He turned it on and let it boot up. He looked at Maggie. "Long shot," she said.

"Would be just like her," Booth said back.

"You think Taffet put that phone in my bag?" Brennan asked.

"I am sure she did," Booth said. "My real issue is when ... when was she close enough?"

"Let's start with the security tapes from yesterday," Maggie walked away to make the call.

Booth looked down at the phone in his hand. There was one text message.

_**UR Daisy has been plucked.**_

_**How long can a daisy live without water?**_

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** A little tension and a little Shipper Sugar. What they really need is to not be interrupted - ya think? Comments are encouraged.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 5**

**A/N:** Looks like we are picking up some more readers here. Gotta love that; the more the merrier. Thanks for playing along.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth looked down at the phone in his hand. There was one text message.

_**UR Daisy has been plucked.**_

_**How long can a daisy live without water?**_

Booth turned the phone toward Brennan and Sully. Brennan's eyes hardened. She didn't like Daisy Wick. She didn't respect her work after she decided to stay on at the expedition after Brennan left. She didn't know that she had returned early. She didn't know about her taking a position in at the Natural History Museum but assumed that the letter of recommendation that Brennan had written for her was used to secure the job; a letter she would not have written again. None of that mattered at the moment. Taffet had made her first move and Daisy could die if they didn't find her in time. It was unacceptable and it was her fault. She stepped away from Booth and Sully to retrieve her copy of the book.

"Bones," Booth called after her which she ignored.

"Sergeant Major, with me," Walker commanded as she headed for the door.

Booth again was annoyed by the command tone Walker took with him. He may technically still be in the service, but she was not. However she was in charge of the investigation and could literally bench him without anyone challenging her decision. He followed her out. The last thing he saw before he closed the door was Sully putting a comforting arm around Brennan's shoulders.

**-x-x-**

"Hey," Sully called to her when she pulled away from him. "I am here for you, ya know," he said gently.

"I know ... and I really appreciate it." She turned back toward him and accepted a quick embrace. "Where did you sleep last night?"

"Didn't," he said. "Was reviewing all that the FBI had on the Gravedigger - old and new."

"How?"

"I still have friends at the FBI, Tempe." He grinned. "This Agent Walker may be the agent in charge but she is not one of us. No love lost between the DCIS and FBI."

"DCIS, what is that?"

"Just another department in the bureaucratic nightmare that is the U.S. Government ... doesn't matter ... but she is not the kind of investigator we need on this. Don't get me wrong. She is good ... really good. Her rep is impeccable. But she is used to dealing with insurgents, Taliban, you know war crimes ... not your run of the mill sociopath."

"Then why is she here?" Brennan demanded to know at little too harshly.

"Don't dismiss her contribution, Tempe. She got Booth back from Afghanistan, not sure any other agent would have gone to the trouble or would have the clout. And those Secret Service guys hanging around, she pulled some serious strings to make that happen."

"They didn't help Ms. Wick," Brennan observed. "How does she know Booth?"

"Apparently they were stationed together in Afghanistan and she used to be FBI." He paused wondering if he should say the rest. He didn't want to come off like a gossip or someone who was jealous. "Apparently Booth and Walker have a little history ... it ended long before you two hooked up," Sully couched.

"We did not HOOK UP ... I know what that expression means, you know Sully."

"Before you met," he corrected.

"Why do I care who Booth is sleeping with anyway?" she dismissed a little too harshly.

"The _**why**_ is for you to determine, for me it is _**how**_ ... how much does it matter right now?"

"Not at all," she declared definitively.

"So You and Booth ... OK?"

"Fine ... we are fine," she stated almost believing it.

"Good," he said effectively ending the discussion about Booth and Walker. "You and me, OK?"

"Yes."

"You? You OK?"

"No," she answered honestly shaking her head. Sully was encouraged that she was able to admit that she was not 'fine' as she would have done in the past. Maybe her time on the island did allow her to find another way to live; allowing both sides of her brain to work at the same time. "She has Ms. Wick ... that woman took Ms. Wick."

"She did ... and we need to find her."

"You were up all night, can you do this?"

"I'm OK, Tempe ... what are you thinking?"

"I am thinking that everyone one of her scenarios was off just a bit and that we need to compare that actual abductions with her reported ones and find a correlation."

"I have been working that angle all night, but I sure could use some fresh eyes," he smiled at her.

"I also think we need to correlate to the cases she was working as US Attorney. Finding those containers and locations to bury them is a lot of research. I don't think she is that creative nor should she have had that much free time on her hands."

"Well one thing for sure - you don't have to worry about her knocking you out of your place on the best sellers list."

"Not my biggest concern," Brennan stated. "Can we get back to the lab? I want to see what Angela has come up with."

"It is still pretty early, Tempe," Sully said. "They may not be there."

"They are there."

**-x-x-**

Walker led Booth down the hall out of earshot of Sorenson. She turned to confront him keeping her voice low. "What the hell are you thinking, Booth?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You stayed here last night?" Booth shrugged dismissively. "I saw that little domestic scene you had going on when we arrived."

"Jealous?"

"You can't protect her like that, Booth. You are too close."

"Sorenson was outside the whole time," he defended. "I am focused on this, Maggie ... trust me."

"I want you to stay away from Dr. Brennan."

"Not gonna happen," he stated. "Look, we are partners. We work better together."

"None of you should be involved in this investigation. I should round you all up, move you to a safe house and lock to door from the outside until Taffet is found."

"You don't want to do that," he said sternly. "You don't know these people ... hell you barely know me. We are a team and they are geniuses. Taffet is not your standard issue FBI bad guy. She is smart. She is dedicated. She is five steps in front of us. If you want to catch her you need these people on your side working for you. It is the only way to catch up. I guess I need to remind you that it was Brennan who first figured out that Heather Taffet was the Gravedigger. FBI had been working the case for years and had nothing."

"Only because she revealed herself."

"She revealed herself because these squints were getting close."

"Or Taffet was getting sloppy, but she has had time to plan this ... eight months in fact ... longer if you count the time she was in jail awaiting trial. You should let the FBI handle this."

"Yes, well we wouldn't have the book if it weren't for Bones. The crack FBI analysts missed that one too." He had points that Maggie couldn't dispute, but she was still not convinced that the personal investment of this 'crack team' could be overcome enough to be effective on the investigation.

Brennan and Sully emerged from the apartment. Sorenson was up asking them where they were going. "Back to the lab," Brennan stated. "Suppose you will be coming along." He turned to lead them out by Booth and Walker.

"Bones, where are you going?"

"Back to work. Get Angela the phone when you are done processing it and I need the original book back," she said over her shoulder. She was mad and freshly determined to find Taffet or Ms. Wick whichever came first. "And we need Taffet's case files."

"Case files?" Maggie asked.

"For the past five years ... ten would be better."

Booth looked back at Maggie. "She seems pretty focused to me."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

There was a dark cloud hanging over the lab. Sweets was inconsolable, but he was there trying to work. He couldn't talk about it but had nowhere else to go. When Daisy came back from Maluku she was different, harder, not quite so ... so much like Daisy. He thought they might reconcile, but she told him she was submitting her name for the position in New York and that effectively put an end to any future they had. The job in New York was a major step down for her career-wise. Sweets even challenged her on it asking if she were punishing herself in some way because she had broken their engagement for the opportunity in Maluku and then didn't finish. She didn't respond. Daisy hadn't talked about the expedition at all. She didn't mention that Dr. Brennan had left before it truly began. Since Sweets now had that information he wondered what had happened in Maluku. He still had feelings for Daisy, but the separation itself and the time they had spent apart had changed them. There was no going back. Sweets was read to move on, but her abduction brought back a flood of emotions that he clearly hadn't dealt with yet.

Brennan found him in a corner of the lab re-reading the last chapter. She touched his shoulder reassuringly. He allowed the condolence - albeit briefly - but did not say anything. She didn't either. Brennan had decided to take a look at the body of Walter Burton. Bones were her thing, she didn't do well sifting through files and trying to think like a psychopath. Bones was better at hearing what the body wanted to tell.

"We need Zach on this," Hodgins said. Brennan didn't realize he was standing behind her. "Zach has a unique way of ... of thinking." Brennan didn't respond. "We need him on this," he repeated.

"He is safer where he is," Brennan said not looking up from the remains.

"Do you really think so? Do you honestly believe that any of us are safe?"

She stood up and studied him for a moment. He was clearly stressed. "Yes," she said. "But you do have a point. He should be made aware of what is going on, if only to alert him that an attempt might be made to abduct him. Once he is informed, he will definitely want to be involved." She thought for a moment. "Alright, bring him a copy of the book, tell him what we know. I also want you to have Angela send him the data that we have been compiling ... and the facts of Taffet's cases for the past ten years. She should be able to pull those from somewhere. We will be getting the actual case files soon." She leaned back down to continue her examination. Hodgins was motionless for a moment. "Is there something else, Dr. Hodgins?" she asked.

"Angela is pregnant," he said solemnly. Brennan's attention was back on Hodgins. "I know she wanted to tell you but ... but this is no time for that ... Nothing can happen to her."

"We will protect her, Jack," she assured him. "We will find Ms. Wick and we will find Taffet."

"If I find Taffet first ..." he started to warn.

"We all feel that way, Dr. Hodgins," she stopped him. "I believe there is an expression about standing in line that applies here."

Hodgins reluctantly smiled. "Good, as long as we understand each other."

"We do. But please don't do anything on your own." Hodgins nodded turned to walk away. "Congratulations," she said as she again focused on the remains in front of her.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Daisy Wick came to slow consciousness. The pain in her neck was excruciating and her head was fuzzy and dull. She sat up slowing fighting the pounding in her head and the waves of nausea that came with each movement. It took a moment for her eyes to focus. She noticed the bars first and then the cold forced its way to her consciousness. She was freezing. She had her coat and her boots but she was still freezing. There was a thin blanket on the cot she was laying on but otherwise no bedding at all. She tried to stand, but didn't have the mobility as yet. Another wave of nausea over took her and she threw up in the bucket next to the cot.

"Would try not to do that too much," said a disembodied female voice. "Dehydration is an ugly way to go. But I don't suppose I need to tell you that, Ms. Daisy Wick."

Daisy forced her mind to think. "Dehydration can cause headaches, muscle cramps, hypotension, dizziness, delirium, unconsciousness, swelling of the tongue and … and death."

"Very good, Ms. Wick. Hypothermia is also a possibility, but it will probably just prolong the inevitable."

"Where am I?"

"Right where I want you," she said with a note of glee in her voice. "Bait for my trap."

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

"Pay attention, Daisy Dear … you are bait. That is why you are here. Just a pawn to be sacrificed as is your lot in life. You don't need to know who I am. All you need to know is that … this is the last time you will hear my voice. There is no hope that you will be saved, the only hope you have is that you won't die alone."

Daisy heard a microphone click off. "Wait … HELLO … Come back. You can't leave me here." Panic over took Daisy. She started to scream but the pounding in her head stopped her. She stood up and stumbled to the door of her cell. She tried to look out but all she saw was prison bars. Across from here were empty cells. "Hello? Is anyone here? HELLO?" She started coughing and slumped to the ground. It could have been the drugs in her system or the cold (Daisy couldn't stand the cold) or it could have been the realization that she was trapped in a cage and there was no one coming to get her. She broke down.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Brennan," Maggie walked said as she walked into Brennan's office. "We haven't been formerly introduced."

"I know who you are **Agent** Walker," Brennan said emphasizing her title.

"Be that as it may, I need to ask if you instructed Hodgins to inform Addy about Taffet's escape and provide him with evidence to review."

"Yes, **Doctor** Hodgins suggested that **Doctor** Addy would be a great asset to this investigation and I concurred."

Walker's eyes narrowed. She instantly decided that she didn't like Brennan. "Well, let's you and I get a few things straight, shall we? First and foremost this is my investigation; your involvement in it is a privilege that I have granted and can revoke at any time. Second, I choose who I will and will not disclose information to about the evidence or lines of inquiry we are following. Third, anything you find, think you find or directions you want to take in this investigation you will run through me first; not Booth and not the rest of your group. You are all guests of this investigation and should act as such. I understand that you worked with Booth for five year, you and your team even Addy … Dr. Addy who is now in a mental hospital for the criminally insane. I appreciate that you think you know how this works because you have had some success in the past. But need I remind you that your … your antics, your investigatory methods got all the evidence to put Taffet away thrown out of court and nearly let this psychopath back out on the streets. I understand you take this personally. I understand your need to be involved, but in my opinion you are too close; too personally invested. In my experience investigators who are too close tend to make mistakes, and that is when people die. I will assume that you don't want Wick to die. So, if you expect to remain on this case, you will play by my rules. Everything goes through me, first and only. Do we have an understanding, **Doctor** Brennan?" Brennan studied her for a long moment and didn't respond. "Dr. Brennan, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Agent Walker, I understood all your words. I speak six languages, so I fully comprehended what you were saying. You will have to forgive me; I need to get back to work."

"Dr. Brennan, that is not an admission that you will abide by my rules."

"Very astute Agent Walker, it was not."

"Dr. Brennan -."

"Agent Walker, I don't know you. I don't know how you work or how good you are at your job. I do know that you are not FBI. I also know that you have not dealt with the Gravedigger case … cases or Heather Taffet before. I have some understanding of your contribution to this case thus far and appreciate what you have done. I also know your personal relationship with Booth is what prompted you to take this case in the first place. So I must ask, are you too close? Will you make mistakes because of that relationship?" Walker was floored that Brennan was coming back at her in an even calm dispassionate tone. She had expected anything but that. Then Brennan hit her with the final take down. "Ms. Wick was taken under your watch, Agent Walker. Was that your mistake?"

"There was no reason to suspect that she was a target," Walker defended.

Brennan held up the picture that had been found in the book. "There was a picture of Ms. Wick and her then fiancé Dr. Sweets." She then held up the picture of Booth and Walker. "Similar to the picture of you and Agent Booth. If you are to recuse me and the rest of the people from the Jeffersonian from this case based solely on our personal connections, should you also not recuse yourself?" It was a rhetorical question. "Did you bring Taffet's case files?" Brennan went on without missing a beat.

"Booth will be bringing them," she stated.

One of the Jeffersonian guards called to Walker to say that she had a visitor. Walker wanted to stay and finish making her point to Brennan, but decided that she needed to take a different tact with her and at another time. She left, passing Angela on the way in.

"Hey Sweetie," she said. "Did I miss the cat fight?"

"No fight," Brennan said standing up to greet her friend.

"Well her fur was surely fluffed up." Brennan pulled Angela into an embrace. "Whoa, sweetie. What is that for?"

"I am happy for you Ange," she said earnestly. "Very happy for you."

"Hodgins told you." She looked really disappointed. "He is worried about the baby."

"I assume you are in good health," she said.

"Best of my life."

"And I assume the pregnancy is proceeding normally?"

"Oh yes very normally … most pregnancies have the threat of a psychopath hanging over them."

"I will take that to mean yes … normally," she said. "Then Dr. Hodgins has no reason to worry."

"I want to tell you all about Paris … well France actually. Oh My God, it was perfect. We will save the details for another time, but I have never been so happy in my life. Well until this happened."

"It took us all out of our lives," Brennan concurred.

"Yeah, you need to tell me about that island and Sully."

"Another time."

"And, you and Booth."

"Angela, Booth and I are fine."

"I'm just asking. I mean he took you home last night. Did he spend the night? Did you welcome your soldier back from the wars?"

Brennan blushed at the thought of the kiss she and Booth shared, and deeper at the thought that she would do it again giving the opportunity. "I was asleep before we made it out of the parking lot."

"So you two haven't talked, yet?"

"A bit," Brennan dismissed. "But this is not the time to deal with any fallout from the time apart."

"So there was fall out," Angela pushed.

"We are fine, Angela," Brennan protested again. "Please, let's go back to work."

"OK, for now, but when this thing is over, you and I are going to have a long chat."

"There is nothing that I would like more. Have you collated the dates and details of Taffet's cases with the abductions and the events in the book."

"Yes, that's why I am here. Nothing stands out, but it probably needs other eyes than mine. I have it up on the screen in my office."

Booth came in lugging two boxes with an agent behind him pushing a dolly with six more. "Where do you want 'em, Bones?"

"That is my cue to exit," Angela smiled warmly at him. "Booth."

"Angela, you are glowing," he flirted with her.

"More than you know, buster."

"Over there is fine," Brennan gestured to an open corner of her office.

"Over there, Mel," he said. "You can stack the rest of them outside her door if they don't fit."

"Rest of them?" Brennan asked when Mel had left.

"There are about twenty more coming. These are the ones that are most recent." She was surprised. "All her cases are up for review," he told her. "I bet that hurt her little ego too." Brennan shook her head. She didn't care what Heather Taffet was feeling or if her feelings were hurt when they sent her away. "Hey Bones, did Maggie talk to you?"

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

"She threatened to take me off the case if I did not play by her rules."

"What did you say?" Brennan did not respond. "Bones?"

"I suggested that she review her own personal connection to the case and question her own ability to stay objective?" Booth was shocked, but he shouldn't have been. "Did you expect me to agree with her assessment and step out of the investigation?"

"No," he said. "Of course not, but there is no personal connection for Maggie."

"Booth, please … we don't have-."

"Bones," he said putting a hand on her arm getting her to look at him. Their eyes locked and each instinctively leaned toward the other. He lowered his voice. "Bones, there is no personal connection," he stated again very decisively. That was as much as he could say at the moment, but he needed her to understand. There couldn't be any more misunderstandings between them. "OK?" She nodded. He slid his hand down her arm and pressed her hand, she squeezed it back before letting go. He was sorry to lose the connection. Sorry they couldn't finish their conversation from that morning. "Bones, about this morning -."

"Booth." She shook her head.

"I won't … I don't … please … whatever you thought was too late, is not. OK, Bones? It's not too late. I need you to know that. It is not too late."

She nodded again understanding – or hoping she understood what he was trying to not say in plain simple words. "It might be for Ms. Wick if we don't figure out where she was taken."

"Well I have been working on that too," he said. "Seems that the last time she was seen was about 27 hours ago now. So that gives us a bit of a timeline. Also your comment this morning and your whole line of investigation got me thinking. We agree that Taffet wants to get back at us, correct?" She agreed. "And what we did to her – so much less than she did to us – but we put her in jail, correct?" Again an agreement. "And you think that she researched her locations and … containers as she was working cases for the US Attorney's office."

"That has not been established," she corrected. "But it is something I would like to follow."

"The last chapter of the book as the person she abducted in a jail cell, correct?"

"Yes an abandon jail cell in a ghost town, but that hardly narrows it down."

"Well, it isn't a ghost town and it isn't a jail cell – perse, but Taffet has been in the prison system for the last two years – almost. Lewisburg just underwent a major remodel. There are at least three buildings on the grounds that are no longer used. They were closed pending demolition."

Brennan almost smiled. "You think she broke out of prison, found and abducted Ms. Wick in New York City then broke back into a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania to lock her in an abandon building on the grounds without being noticed, then drove to DC to put a cell phone in my bag with a text message on it from her taunting us with Ms. Wick's abduction."

He leaned back. "Well, when you put it like that it sounds like a really dumb idea. Thanks a lot, Bones."

"I think it's brilliant," she exclaimed. "It would be just like her. Hiding in plain sight." A smile spread across Booth face. "And it would be foolish for us to believe that she is working alone. If she got William Burton to help her, she probably has others. They may not even know what they are a part of. How do we proceed?"

"I will put a call into the warden of Lewisburg. He can have a sweep done of the abandon buildings."

"Will that tip her off?"

"Wherever we find Daisy, Bones, Taffet will be long gone."

"So we still have work to do, but if this pans out we will have more clues, if only logistics."

"Exactly." He pulled out his phone and dialed.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Walker startled awake when the ice cold water that splashed her face. There was an ache in her neck and her head was foggy. She was handcuffed to a bed in what looked to be a prison cell. She had seen the inside of one of those more than twice in her life. Sometimes she was just visiting, sometimes she wasn't. She struggled to free herself of the restraints but could not.

"Don't waste your effort, Agent Walker," said a woman that Walker could not see. "So you are the new player," she drawled. "So far I am not impressed."

"Taffet," she said trying to lift her head to see who was speaking to her, but couldn't.

"Ms. Taffet, if you don't mind. Sad really, had to pull the two weakest links to get these … what does Booth call them?"

"Squints."

"Right … squints to work harder. They were just being too complacent."

"Where is Daisy Wick?"

"Oh she is here … don't worry. They will find both your remains … in the spring. I wonder how long before they give up on you?" She stepped out of the cell and closed the door with a loud bang. "Get comfortable, Agent Walker. You will be here … well you will be here until the end of this game. And think, you have a front row seat."

Walker twisted herself out of her bed still attached to it and the wall. Across from her she saw several monitors, with webcams streaming: the Jeffersonian lab, Brennan's office, Angela's office, and Brennan's apartment. She saw Booth and Brennan in the lower left monitor (Brennan's office). He looked like he was holding her hand. She struggled harder to free herself from the cuffs – in vain.

"DAISY WICK!" she shouted as loudly as she could. "DAISY WICK ARE YOU HERE?"

"WHO IS THAT?" a scared little voice called back. "Who is here?"

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** Aw … poor Maggie. She was just trying to do a good job. She wouldn't have gotten in the way of Booth and Brennan, but aren't you glad she isn't in the way anymore? Or is she? Now Booth has someone to feel responsible for too. Still having fun? More ship next time, I promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 6**

**A/N:** What next?

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Do you know why the caged Magpie screams?**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth, Sully and Hacker stood in Director Rapaport's office. Booth was very nearly standing at attention, Sully was looking up unimpressed at the director's rant and Hacker was looking down thinking about what he would say to extricate him from responsibility such that he could keep his job. It had been exactly two hours since Walker was discovered missing. The text message came in after they had started searching for her. Angela was the first to get it. Brennan was the one who contacted Booth. He didn't take it very well, his knuckles would recover in a day or two, the window in his SUV would require a more direct approach.

"Who the hell is Agent Margaret Walker?" the director asked again hoping for a better answer.

Booth waited for Hacker to answer but when it appeared as if none were forth coming he spoke up. "Agent Walker is on loan from the DCIS. When she heard about Taffet's escape -."

"Note to self," the director interrupted. "Get the BOP on the phone and find out what the hell happened there. Go on, Booth."

"When she heard about Taffet's escape she asked to be temporarily assigned to the FBI to work the case until Taffet was found."

"Why?"

Booth looked straight ahead but was not about to bring up the personal connection that he and Walker had. Hacker jumped in. "It was at the request of the Inspector General," he said. "It was cleared through your office as well."

"I know about the logistics, I want to know why. Why did Walker want this case? It had been a career ender for more agents than I care to remember. Was she personally connected to one of the victims?" Booth kept his eyes fixed on the wall behind the director's head. "Sully," the director barked. "Why the hell are you here? I thought you quit to float around the Caribbean on a boat."

Sully stood up straighter. "I am personally connected to one of the victims, Director. Three actually. Temperance Brennan, Seeley Booth and Jack Hodgins are all people that I know and care about." Even though Booth's head did not move, Sully felt his full attention and anger on him. " When I heard that Taffet was out and was targeting them, I returned to DC to offer my help in the investigation."

"Just how did you HEAR about it? Isn't this a closed case? Booth?"

"Yes, Sir. Dr. Brennan was ... " Booth couldn't bring himself to say that she was living with Sully on the island.

"Temperance Brennan is a neighbor of mine ... I was there when she got the news and was escorted back to DC."

"A neighbor ... right ... Personal connection - MY ASS."

"As I said, I came here to offer my help."

"You don't think the FBI employs qualified investigators, EX-Agent Sullivan?"

"Yes sir ... but I believe that Taffet is a special case. Clearly her threat is very real."

"Ya think?" he said sarcastically. "Two people in less than 36 hours and one of them an agent with special forces training." A realization washed over him. "Ah ... Special Forces. So Booth, you know this Walker."

"Yes sir." He shifted slightly under the scrutiny. "Agent Walker and I knew each other when she was at the FBI about seven-eight years ago." 

"And?"

"And we served together in Afghanistan."

"AH yes ... your moonlighting job. Tell me Booth, are you back or are you on leave? Please don't tell me you are AWOL."

"When the threat assessment posed by Taffet was confirmed, Agent Walker arranged for me to take leave to come back and work the case as I had been lead investigator when Taffet was arrested and on the Dr. Brennan & Dr. Hodgins kidnapping and on the Ryan and Matthew Kent murder."

"Lead investigator, was it? That is a fine case of revisionist history there Booth. When she was arrested, you were a victim and about to get blown up, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, Sir." Booth was just about to point out that time was of the essence but was cut off.

"Yeah … it is all coming back to me now, your squints squeezed your brother to pull a few strings to get some information on Taffet – a US Attorney to boot - that subsequently got thrown out of court."

"And helped to save my life," Booth added.

"Well there is that." He thought for a moment. "Screw it!" the director exclaimed. "We don't have time for this protocol shit. The press is going to be crawling up our ass and we have two people out there hoping we will find them before they - what? Run out of air? Isn't that her MO?"

"We think she has just locked them up, sir. That they will die of thirst, hunger, exposure ... but they are not underground. We don't believe."

"Great. That is just great. And we need to find this psycho-bitch and put her back where she belongs. Hacker," he barked. "We don't have time to get anyone else up to speed on this. Get Sullivan a badge, a gun and a desk. You have volunteered, Sully, we are going to make use of you."

"Director Rapaport -," Sully started to protest.

"It's only temporary, Sully. Don't worry the sooner you solve this case the sooner you can go back to cocoanuts, tanning lotion and your scantily glad island women. And get a haircut for Christ's sake."

"Yes, sir."

"Hacker, I also want to get Booth back from the army. Whatever it takes. You two - work this case, find this bitch and bring those people back home alive. OK?" He ran his hands through his thinning hair. "NO ONE ELSE GETS TAKEN! Lock everyone on her list in a room and watch them," he bellowed. "The press is going to have a field day from the prison system right through to my ass," he said more to himself than anyone else in the room. "Booth, you have your squints working this?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sully you are lead on this – you are the press liaison. Sorry Booth, you are still in the army. Whatever possessed you to do that, I will never know. Sully, anything you need," he said. "Charge the overtime to the BOP."

"Yes, sir."

"GO! What the hell are you waiting for? Go get the bad girl and save the victims preferably before it is too late," he said. "I've got a phone call to the Inspector General to make."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Sully walked into the lab late in the afternoon. He and Booth had been working with the analysts at the FBI most of the day reviewing visitor logs, prison records, and looking into Walter Burton's background. Amazingly enough for a CIA analyst there was surprisingly very little on the guy. Sully had to wonder if he had a 'spring cleaning' file too.

"Hey, Tempe," he said walking into her office. She looked up and took a double take when she saw the suit. "Nice, huh? Loaner from Booth. He is a little broader through the shoulders and his waist is smaller than mine, but it fits OK. "

"Why are you wearing a suit? And did you cut your hair?"

"Rapaport put me in charge of the investigation," he announced. "Gave me a badge and a gun too." He pulled open his jacket to reveal the badge and gun on his hip.

"Am I going to have to deal with you trying to pull me off this case?"

"Born at night, Tempe, but not last night," he quipped.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means, No. I need you working this." He smiled at her. "How are you holding up?"

"Fair, how is Booth holding up?"

"Ask him yourself?" Booth interjected. Sully's phone rang as if on cue and he exited the office. "Did I interrupt something?" he said a little too snidely.

"Not at all." She moved over on the couch as a way of inviting him to join her.

He thought about it for a moment and decided his irritation level had nothing to do with her directly. "Lewisburg was a bust," he growled flopping down next to her. "I still think it was a good idea. Have a call out to all prisons in the area to review their closed off areas."

"Good." She put the file she was working with down. "Booth, I am sorry about -" she started. She wanted to show concern for the loss of his friend but didn't really want to hear him talk about whatever relationship they were in. She couldn't bear that at the moment. "I know that you and Agent Walker were -."

"Just tell me you got something?" he said avoiding accepting her condolence. He had just spent the last six hours beating himself and anyone else around him up. He needed to stop the pity party and get the work done.

"Angela is working on the images from the garage. There was apparently no plate on the car, but we are searching all known makes and models with anything we have on Taffet."

"Well, if she is smart and learned from her mistakes, she will have stolen the car 100 miles in on direction and we will find it abandoned some 100 miles in another."

"We are also running body image scans of the abductor to determine if it was indeed Taffet. The resolution is pretty bad; she was mostly in shadow, so we don't expect to get much. Hodgins pulled samples from where the car was parked, but that will probably not yield anything either." She studied him for a moment. "I am sorry, Booth."

He wiped his hands over his face and leaned back on the couch. Brennan leaned back with him. "I can't believe Maggie was taken from the Jeffersonian garage. That is just ballsy."

"I am not familiar with the expression but if you are implying that Taffet was unnecessarily brazen to take such a risk, I would have to agree with you."

"You saw Maggie last, Bones … you don't remember anything?"

She shrugged. "I told this to the other agents. One of the guards came to say that she had a visitor and she left. I don't mean to be cold, but I was actually glad she left so I wasn't paying her much heed. She was being a bit overbearing. Had I known -"

"I understand." He pressed her hand warmly but didn't let go. He could only imagine the conversation between Maggie and Brennan that morning.

"Your hand?" she exclaimed when she saw the damage.

"Little run in with the back window … I'll be fine." He pulled his hand away. "I don't suppose you remember which guard it was?"

"I honestly don't. I have never seen her before, she must have been new."

"Her?"

"Yes, it was a female guard."

"Why didn't I know it was a she-guard?" he asked pulling out his phone. He dialed the FBI and asked for Charlie.

"I believe the agent already took her down to the Hoover building for a debriefing," she claimed.

He hung up and looked annoyed. "The only female guard on duty this morning was Kelly DeMarco. She claims to know nothing about Walker and is not cleared to work in the Medical Legal lab. So who the hell was it?"

"There are web cams installed all over the office we are reviewing them and see who entered my office just before Walker left."

"Angela -?"

"She is already looking into it," she said calmly reassuring him that everyone was doing their jobs. She took his hand back and laced her fingers through his; in spite of everything a simple physical contact with him was enough to comfort her and she hoped it would be enough to comfort him. "I am sorry Booth. I know that Agent Walker was … is important to you."

"She is a friend, Bones." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and was also appreciating the contact. "Just a friend."

She nodded. They were quiet for a moment. "I know I said this before, but this was not how I expected our getting back together would go."

He liked the idea of them _**getting back together**_; he liked it more because she had been thinking about it. He wondered exactly how she was thinking about it. "What did you expect to happen?" he asked.

"I expected that we would have met somewhere and talked and together made a plan for our futures."

"Wow." He smiled carefully. He hadn't expected that or that she would be so direct. "So not the Reflecting Pool one year from the day we parted, cup of coffee and back to work just like we never left?"

"As romantic as that sounded, no."

"Romantic?"

"Nostalgic. Unrealistic. Implausible. Impractical."

"OK, Ok … I get it. You need a new definition for romantic," he said playfully banging their joined hands on his thigh.

"Yes, maybe I do," she said coyly – coyly for Brennan. "Further, you pointed out that there had to be change."

"Sometimes change is good."

"Sometimes," she agreed. "Further, I didn't imagine that I would be able to wait the full twelve months and had hoped that you would have returned to the states before then. In fact I had already begun the process of disentangling myself from the responsibilities I had assumed on the island. I would have been back in DC by the end of March." She fixed him with a very intense look. "There is much that I would like to communicate to you. I discovered much about myself and the impact people – you, in specific – have had on my life. Much has changed for me in terms of goals, aspirations …. The direction I wish to see my life go."

"Bones," he was near speechless. "I like your way much better than Taffet's."

The name Taffet brought back the nightmare they were living with at the moment. She squeezed his hand as tightly as she could with her small soft hand in his large rough one. "I was more than worried about you over there fighting a war, Booth." The tears that were never far away when she thought of Booth in a danger welled up. "I was terrified – scared all the time. I wonder if that is why I went away without telling anyone." He shook his head showing that he really didn't understand. "If anything happened to you, they couldn't find me to let me know."

"Ignorance is bliss?" he offered with a smile.

"Ignorance is just ignorant, but some information people shouldn't rush to get particularly if the situation is out of one's control." There were so many other things that could have happened to him. She never should have gone and not left someone with her information. It was wrong.

She looked so miserable. He pulled her into an embraced. "Nothing happened to me," he reassured. "I'm OK, Temperance. I am in one piece and I am here with you now. Nothing bad happened."

"Thank your God for me, will you?" she tried to laugh but she was clearly too emotional. "Will you have to go back?" she squeaked out.

"The director has instructed Hacker to get them to release me early, but I don't know how that will go. The Army needs bodies right now. I was doing some good work over there, Bones."

"I know. I expected nothing less. I also know you well enough to know that you would put your life in danger, indeed you would die trying to protect someone."

He pushed her back so he could look her in the eye. "I am not a risk taker, Bones, and I am not reckless. Not some kid who can't see the forest for the trees. That is why they sent me to train these guys." She still looked miserable. "Besides," he smiled. "I have a son that I want to see grow up. And … " He searched her eyes. The desire to kiss her was near overpowering. "And I have other reasons, other people in my life that I have no intention of leaving or letting go of again." The fact that he didn't say her name and left the 'other people' ambiguous struck like an arrow in her heart. If not Margaret Walker, maybe there was someone else that Booth had found. She looked down and started to pull away. "Bones, don't think what you are thinking," he prompted again reaching for her hand. "I want to continue this conversation with you – only you – but right now is not the right time or place. I want to hear everything you want to tell me about what you discovered on your island adventure; how you have changed. I want you to know how much I haven't – not in my heart. I promise, when we find Taffet and put her behind bars AGAIN, and get Daisy and Maggie back we will have that conversation, just you and me, and we will talk and make plans for our future – one future, Bones. OK?" She nodded.

There was a knock on her door. They both looked over to see Hodgins and Angela standing there. "Zach found something," Hodgins said. "But you're not going to like it."

**-x-x-x-**

They called Sully back into the office before Hodgins explained. "Seems that someone has been corresponding with Taffet the entire time she has been in prison."

"We just went through all those records this morning," Sully stated. "And found nothing. What did Zach find?"

"Seems that a Joy Keenan has been sending her care packages," Hodgins launched in. "One a week, sometimes twice. The contents were listed as beauty supplies, clothing, books and food stuffs, but the packages were wrapped in not your typical wrapping paper."

"Go back just a moment," Brennan said. "Joy Keenan?" Hodgins nodded solemnly.

"Oh God," Booth exclaimed. "I completely missed that."

"Well, you would have. The guard that took the package in wrote the name and address down wrong. He wrote it as J. Keohan. The guard of course was Walter Burton."

"How did you get Joy Keenan out of that?"

"All items delivered to inmates are photographed and logged. There was a package in one of them, still in packaged from Amazon. It was addressed to Joy Keenan."

"Joy Keenan of Falls Church, Virginia," Angela offered. "She has a Buick Skylark Dark Blue registered in her name." She turned her laptop around. "This is her DMV picture." It was Taffet.

"She stole my name," Brennan exclaimed. "That …. That … that _**woman**_ stole my name."

The cell phone – the phone that Taffet had left for Brennan – signaled an incoming text. Angela read it and immediately snapped her attention to Brennan. "Oh Sweetie," she said. Hodgins looked over Angela's shoulder and nearly gasped quickly turning her attention to Brennan. Brennan was frozen. In two quick strides Booth was across the room and had taken the phone from Angela. His jaw tightened and he stifled his outburst. He looked away from everyone, particularly Brennan.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Maggie struggled against her restrains until her wrists bled. She had tried to get Daisy to focus on ways to get out of her cell, but it was easier just to let her talk. From her best guess, there were at least three cells between them. The echo in the hall made it hard to judge. It was coming on night and it was getting colder. The building seemed secure, but there was no heat, no lights only the flicker of the webcam monitors that were outside cell. She could see the group of them in Brennan's office.

A cold blast of air ripped through the large area as the door was opened. Lights clicked on. Two people entered – one wearing boots and the other hard soled shoes. They were pushing something with wheels that squeaked. A cell door down away from Maggie opened with a loud screech. There were sounds of the two people – probably women by the sound of their grunts – struggling with something heavy. Then the clinking metal as the handcuffs were put in place. They wheeled whatever it was out and slammed the cell door.

Daisy called to them for help. The call was ignored. The lights clicked off again and the door was closed behind them. Deadbolt and slid bolt were slammed back into place.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N: The BOP is the Federal Bureau of Prisons.** And what do you think? B&B got pretty close to having a whole conversation. They might actually get to be on the same page at the same time for once, if they survive this case. So, who is Taffet's latest victim? Probably too obvious, but …


	7. Chapter 7

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 7**

**A/N:** Sorry so late.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

_**And Daddy Makes Three**_

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth finally turned to Brennan. His look was pleading and apologetic. "I'm sorry, Bones." His voice was full of emotion. "It looks like she might have Max." Brennan's expression walled off instantly. The concern, fear and anxiety she was displaying a moment before was completely gone. She had shut off her emotions like a switch. Booth saw it. Sully saw it. Angela and Hodgins saw it. For a skilled 'compartmentalizer' like Bones, it was something that she had perfected. She kept her eyes on Booth, but they were cold and distant, not inviting and soft as they were only moments before. "He was with Russ and the girls, correct?"

"I'll get a hold of Russ," Sully said. He pulled out his phone and dialed.

"NO!" she almost screeched. "I will talk to him." She reached for Sully's phone. It was a call to the FBI that needed to get transferred twice in order to get transferred to Russ. When the call was finally put through, Sully handed her his phone. "Russ? Are you and the girls OK?" She stepped away from the group.

Sully and Booth exchanged a look. "You should call your son. Maybe you should bring them into a safe house."

Booth didn't want to worry about his son. If it did it would paralyze him, but Sully was right. He needed to make them safe. "I want to send Sorenson and Johnson over to pick them up." It wasn't really a question, but he needed approval or at the least agreement with his plan. Johnson was the agent assigned to Hodgins and Angela. They of course would stay in the lab in plain sight until his return. It was understood that no one was to be alone. Three Secret Service agents seemed like overkill, but it was appropriate to have one in the car with them and two following. Rebecca of course would not like it. She had always hated Booth's job; rarely had it touched her life but the times that it did made her hate it all the more.

Everything and everyone shifted gears. Cam and Sweets were brought up to speed as were Caroline and Jared. Everyone was to be hyper vigilant. The BOLO for Taffet was upgraded to an all out search (read: womanhunt). Agents were sent to the house in Falls Church to secure it before Sully, Booth, Brennan and Sayoran were dispatched to investigate and gather evidence. The analysis of the guard who had come to give Walker the information about a visitor turned out to be a guard who has switched shifts with another. She wasn't supposed to be in that day and had not undergone the briefing about the tightened security. She had been with the Jeffersonian for years. She wouldn't be for much longer and neither would the guard she had switch with.

Brennan talked to Russ and discovered that her father had been very agitated since hearing about Taffet's escape and Brennan's return. He had slipped away from the house and it was presumed that he was on his way to see her. His car was found about a mile from Brennan's house. Angela was working on the traffic footage but was coming up with nothing.

Sully found Brennan in her office putting her bag together to go out into the field.

"Tempe" he asked. "You OK to do this?"

"I am."

"Tempe, it's your father - no one will think -."

"Sully." She started to walk past him but he stopped her. "I'm fine," she stated leaving no room for discussion. She left to meet them down by the door. Booth and Sully exchanged a look across the lab floor; with an equal shake of the head they both understood. Dr. Brennan was back.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Max Keenan woke with a start. His head was pounding. He tried to move but his wrists were cuffed over his head. He took a quick look around. It looked like a prison cell. He knew a prison cell when he was in one. He knew prison cells, jail cells, holding cells and all the rest of the cells that TPTB used to restrain the miscreants of society -before and after they were convicted. This wasn't a prison cell - not a real one anyway. For an old man he was still pretty agile. He flipped around so his feet were against the wall and pulled the bolt that was holding the chain in place out; it wasn't easy but it was really not that hard. It was only drywall and plaster made to look like cement blocks. He slipped his cuffs off next and went to the door. The door was easily lifted off its hinges and he was out. Taffet had clearly underestimated him, but even if she hadn't - there was really no jail that could hold Max if he didn't want to stay.

"HEY!" Walker called to him when she heard the sound. "HEY YOU THERE!"

Max didn't respond but walked toward the sound. It was coming from a cell about two down from his. That one apparently was the VIP suite as it had monitors set up on a table outside. He approached carefully ensuring that he had not mistaken his surroundings or was wrong about their being another 'prisoner' in the cell. He looked over at the monitors and recognized Tempe's office and home right away. His only concern was his daughter's safety. She was moving and talking and surrounded by people. She was safe.

"Hey," said Walker again. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" he returned.

"Agent Walker, DCIS - working with the FBI on Taffet's escape."

"How's that going for you?" he quipped. "Any good leads?"

"Got a pretty good idea who she has taken and that they are not being buried, so that is helpful."

"Excellent detective work there Agent Walker of DCIS."

"You are Max Keenan, Brennan's father." He didn't respond; his attention was still on the monitors. "Sir."

He still didn't respond. Whenever he could avoid it, Max did not talk to cops. "How long have I been here?"

"About three hours. I've been here more than 10 less than 16. Where did she find you?"

Max had been trying to get to Tempe's apartment but was being kind of sneaky about it. Apparently he was not the only one. He caught a young woman, about 20 doing the same. He had grabbed her and was about to call Booth, but then he was caught. Apparently he was being watched too. He of course didn't explain that all to Walker. He didn't know Walker from Adam. Maybe she was the one who was behind him. "Think I surprised her."

"Her?" That was a clue. "Why?"

"'Cause I heard her say 'you'll do' before the lights went out."

"So ... you gonna get me out of here?"

"I don't know," he said. He decided to pretend that she was just a hostage too. "If she watching, we don't want to tip her off."

"I think she is expecting us to just die here."

"Then what is with the monitors?"

"Maybe she wants us to see them squirm."

"Think Taffet has got something bigger planned."

Walker was about to demand to be let out of her cuffs, but felt that if this old man could get out, so could she. "Check on Daisy, will you? She has been quiet for a while."

Max cautiously walked down the mock prison cat walk and found the one where Daisy was being held. She wasn't unconscious, but she was huddled into a corner. He remembered Daisy from the lab. She was a little over the top for his tastes. He liked his women smarter and a little less ... exuberant. He was surprised not to see her talking her way out of something.

"Hey," he whispered. "You OK?"

She looked up at him with glassy eyes. "Cold."

"Yeah, it is cold in here." He struggled with her door a bit. It was easier to do from the inside. He finally lifted it off its hinges and crossed over to her. "Come on," he said pulling her to standing. Need to get off this floor. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. "How long have you been here?" Daisy couldn't answer she had lost track of time. She was there for such a long time before the other one got there.

Max decided that he would need to take a chance on Walker if only to take care of Daisy. By the time he got back there, she had pulled the chain from the wall and was working on getting out of the cuffs.

"Not as easy as it looks, huh?"

"Where are we?" Walker nodded over to the dry wall and plaster faux brick.

"Looks like a movie set to me," he laughed. "But what do I know about jail cells or movie sets."

"We have got to get out of here."

"Well that might be a bit trickier."

Walker's attention was brought back to the monitors. The one in the lower left was not the lab as it had been. It was a residence of some sort. It actually looked like a Skype session. They watched as they saw movement in the room, then Temperance Brennan' face filled the image.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The house in Falls Church was secured and the forensic team was standing by to collect all evidence. It was apparently unlived in, but there were a few scattered pieces of furniture - a chair, a table. On the counter in the kitchen was an envelope addressed to Brennan. Booth and Sully flanked her as she opened it using gloves and tongs. It was the next two chapters of Taffet's book; one longer more detailed (from first glance) and one about a page and a half in length called 'surprise guest'. From a quick scan, the subject in the first one was a male FBI agent. It was presumed by all that the intended target was Booth, but Walker got in the way. The second one more like a fairy tale about an old man who thought he was that cat but discovered he was the mouse. It was clearly written in haste. One of the technicians came to find Sully, Booth and Brennan. There was something to be seen in the back bedroom. They found a table with six monitors set up. They were all webcams streaming views of prison cells. Five were empty. The fifth showed three people that were all moving. The people were Daisy Wick, Maggie Walker and her father. They noticed Brennan. They could see each other. Brennan silently let out the breath she was holding.

Sully and Booth both turned to a technician and barked orders at the same time. "Trace the feed." The tech was a young kid, new to the FBI, didn't know Booth or Sully by reputation or anything else. He nodded quickly. He wasn't about to tell them that he had started the trace about 30 minutes prior but as yet had not found the source as it was being bounced around the world. Maybe he was supposed to wait for their order. There was no sound and that was the second order to the kid. "We need to talk to them," Booth demanded. The kid nodded again, but knew that it was more of a hardware issue than something he could control but knew well enough not to explain that to them. He just set to work pretending to do something.

Brennan wasn't waiting for the technician. She was writing questions down and holding them up to the camera. They were yes and no questions as the other side did not have anything to write with.

- Do you know where you are? NO

- Is anyone else there with you? NO

- Can you see outside to give some reference? NO

But there was more to that answer. Max had climbed up to the window and discovered that it really wasn't a window. The light from outside wasn't the sun. They were indeed on a movie set. Daisy came up with the idea of charades. Max made the motion of a movie camera. Brennan was puzzled. She wrote 'movie' down and held it up to. They all nodded.

"What movie?" Booth asked as if expecting them to cut out the game playing. She wrote it back and they all shook their heads. They acted out two words. First word - movie. Second word. That was a little harder. They tried to act out 'set' for a bit but didn't get the response they were looking for. Booth and Sully were not interested in playing this game. Finally Max went for stage it took a minute, but Brennan got it.

Sully barked into the phone. "We need to find a film studio - close to Washington - preferably one that has a prison set." As soon as his phone snapped shut the webcam shut off. The monitors went blank.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The power went completely out. Daisy yelped; Walker instinctively reached for a gun (which was not there) and Max stayed very, very still.

"We have to get out of here," Walker stated.

"Going to be difficult to do in the pitch black."

"Can she see us in the dark?" Daisy squeaked out.

"Maybe," Walker said with very little empathy. "But we can't worry about that now."

"Think she is done with us," Max stated. "She was just collecting people until Tempe found that place she was in. Taffet had to prove that we were still alive so that Tempe would feel responsible if she doesn't get to us in time."

"What do we do?" Daisy asked.

"We get out of here," Walker and Max said at the same time.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The news had gotten back to the lab before they got back. Sweets was waiting at the door for any more information that he could get. Brennan was the one to tell him. "We saw her," she said. "She looks tired but otherwise OK."

"You really saw her?"

"Yes, and she saw us. She knows we are coming for her. We will find her. She is with my father and Walker. I can't think of two better people to help her get out of this." She meant the words she was saying and she really wanted to be sympathetic to Sweets' concern, but she had to get away from him and from people. She excused herself as quickly as she could and found her way down to bone storage (aka Limbo).

She paced fighting back the feelings that were threatening to take over. She was angry, scared and frustrated. Taffet was taunting her. She was laughing at her. She had to put her mind into Taffet's - and she really didn't want to do that. Her fear from the last time - from the trial - that Brennan had lost her objectivity because of the relationships in her life entered her mind again. She started to entertain it and then pushed it away. That was what got her to run away the last time and what good had come from that? Her biggest fear was that Taffet had won. She clearly had expected to 'collect' six people from Brennan's life and lock them up, but since they had found the house in Falls Church, Taffet would probably settle for three and just skip town, fall off the grid and not be heard from again. Actually that is not true either. She will probably 'check in' with Brennan every once in a while just to gloat that she is out there in the world laughing at her.

Brennan slid down the wall on to the floor. She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. She just sat there with her head on her arms. Her mind was spinning.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Sully was checking in with the people at the Hoover building about what they had dug up about the house. It apparently was leased two years prior (about the time of Taffet's arrest) by Joy Keenan. They were pulling up all the information about her they could gather but there wasn't much. They also had not turned up anything yet about a movie studio, sound stage or television studio from Maine to Florida. The BOLO out for the car had turned up nothing.

Hodgins was working the samples they brought back from the house but it was a slow tedious process. Cam and Sweets were working the book angle. Angela was working with the FBI tech on tracking the feeds but they were running into a number of issues.

Booth was pacing the cat walk over the lab. There was something he was missing. Clearly he was a target, but it didn't appear that Brennan was. Taffet was pushing Brennan's buttons; messing with her objectivity. But Brennan's eyes weren't the only one on this case. Brennan wasn't the only one to be affected. He checked in with his son and got an earful from Rebecca; but they were safe - he could take it. He kept pacing hoping that he could figure out what was missing. He needed a suspect to interrogate. He needed to ask questions. You don't ask questions of evidence - it was what it was. He studied a picture from the webcam session. Daisy looked bad. Nothing else could be gleaned from him. He needed to question someone. They were working the Amazon angle to see what else she bought. Tracking the credit cards under the name Joy Keenan and anything else they could find.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth found Brennan in limbo – how appropriate. "Bones?" he asked gently. "What are you doing down here?" He squatted down next to her.

She looked up not realizing that her eyes were wet with tears she didn't know she shed. "Just trying to think what Taffet's game is. But I honestly think she has made her last move." She wiped at her eyes surprised to find them wet.

"It's not over, Bones." He touched her shoulder. "We know they are alive."

"Booth, the temperatures will dip below zero again tonight. They may be inside somewhere, but I suspect there is no heat. Did you see Ms. Wick? She has been missing for forty-two hours. This will be her third night. No food, no water. Her body temperature will drop, she will go into hypothermia."

"We will find her," he said. "She is not alone. Maggie and Max will take care of her. And you know your Dad. There isn't a jail strong enough to hold him." He grinned at her.

Brennan was annoyed; she didn't need to be cheered up or patronized. "She has been planning this for months, Booth." Brennan sat up. "It can't be a movie studio or anything else that she could rent for that length of time."

"So what are you thinking? A warehouse?"

"Or a factory - maybe one that has shut down. Someplace far away from people. We have no idea where to start looking. I need some evidence."

"Wait, you think she converted some warehouse or old factory to look like a jail cell? That is a lot of work and a lot of planning. And she did this all from a jail cell."

"Clearly she had help. We established that with William Burton and someone who is using my name."

"We have people working on that."

"Yeah, I know," she said curtly. Brennan was annoyed and really didn't want Booth's comforting tone. She stood up and started to walk away.

"Bones?" he called after her. "Bones, what are you mad at me for?"

She turned back. "I am not angry with you," she stated.

"No? Cause you seem mad and you seem like you are directing at me."

"I'm not. But the better question is why aren't you?"

"Why aren't I what?"

"Angry ... mad ... spewing projectiles."

"Spitting bullets," he corrected. "You want me to be mad?"

"I want you to stop trying to take care of me and get to work."

"I'm working this right along with you, Bones."

"This is your area, Booth," she pressed back.

"My area?"

"Yes, you understand people and motivations and psychology ... I don't. I understand facts and science and bones. Taffet is not giving us science. This is your area."

"Yeah, I do understand people. I understand that you are feeling responsible and frustrated. I understand that you are pissed and need to take it out on someone - well don't take it out on me, OK Bones?" Why he would take it from Rebecca and not from Bones wouldn't be a question he wouldn't ask himself until later. The answer would surprise him.

"I don't mean to direct my frustration at you," she said unapologetically. He was the only one there, who else would notice? "I just … I just feel so … so not in control. Like she is playing with me – laughing at me. I don't like it."

"She is not in control."

"Of course she is. Taffet is completely in charge. Taffet is the one that is disclosing information when and how she wants. And there are three people out there waiting for us to figure out her clues. What if she didn't leave any clues this time? What if she covered her tracks so well that we don't find them for months?"

"That is not going to happen," he said gently.

"You don't know that," she insisted. "You can't possibly know that." She started to walk by him. He stopped her with a firm grasp on her forearm. "Booth."

"We will find them," he asserted. "You have to believe that, because if you don't … if we don't … then we will fail."

"That makes no logical sense," she said pulling her arm away. "Faith has no place -."

"It absolutely does," he stopped her. "Faith in yourself; faith in your team. Faith in the people who have as much invested as you do. Faith that something will be discovered that will turn the tide of this investigation."

"From your lips to God's ears," Sully stated interrupting them. "We found the car," he stated waiting for a reaction. "More importantly … we have the driver."

"Taffet?" Booth asked.

"No … young woman, name of Rachel Dawes. We don't know much else about her, but by time we get to the FBI they will have pulled everything we have."

"About damned time." Booth stepped out of the room to head back to the Hoover building.

"You Ok?" Sully asked Brennan.

"Please stop asking me that," she stated coldly. "The answer is no. No, I am not OK. There is a psychotic woman who is out to get me and she is going through the people in my life to do it. So, no … I am not OK. Not until she is back in custody. Not until Ms Wick, Agent Walker and my father are safe." She followed Booth out.

Sully just nodded and shrugged. "Silly me for asking."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth was impatiently waiting for Hodgins to grab his gear. He wanted to be the one to pull the evidence from the car. In fact he demanded that no one else touch it. Booth was all too happy to comply.

"You coming," he said to Brennan when she got back to the lab.

"I am." She touched he arm to get him to look at her. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," he said turning away.

"Booth," she said again. "I'm sorry."

He nodded and relaxed the tension in his shoulders. "You're allowed," he said reluctantly and walked away.

She was about to follow after him but Angela called to her. "Taffet has a daughter," she stated. Only Brennan was around to hear.

"What?"

"She got pregnant when she was 21 … senior in college. From what I found, she put the kid up for adoption. I am still working on getting her name and who adopted her, but I am sure it will help. I'll keep looking."

Brennan wandered back to Booth who had been joined by Sully. "Did Angela have anything?"

"Maybe," she said lost in thought. "What do we know about this Rachel Dawes?"

"Nothing yet, but let's go find out."

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**A/N:** Again sorry for the delay. RL sometimes gets in the way. Comments encouraged.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 8**

**A/N:** "It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra

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Maggie and Max built a little shelter from the cot mattresses for Daisy. They wrapped her in all the blankets they could find. They gave her a pole of some sort and told her to bang in on the metal bars at regular intervals so they could keep their orientation. It was really to give her something to do and to keep her awake. Of course everything was hampered by the fact that they were in complete darkness.

"We should wait for morning," Walker said.

"Have no idea what time it is now," Max said. "But I would suspect that there is nothing getting in here from the outside regardless."

"So we need to do this in the dark."

"I do some of my best work in the dark, sweetheart."

"Great." They worked their way down the walkway, down the stairs and across the floor to the door. It of course was locked with a slide bolt on the other side. "Follow the walls around to the left and I will go right," she ordered. "If this is really a mock up, there has to be a way through."

They each worked their way around. About two thirds of the way there was a loud crash that shook the whole floor. Daisy cried out. Walker called to Max. "KEENAN ... KEENAN! What just happened? KEENAN!"

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Booth pushed Brennan into the hallway.

"You are going too easy on her!" she shouted. "Give me five minutes alone with her."

"WITH ME, Dr. Brennan," he scolded back physically escorting her out of the interrogation room as the door closed slowly behind them. He opened the door for the Observation Room and let her precede him in. Booth smiled and pulled the door tight behind him. "Whoa there, girl. Where did you learn to be the Bad Cop?"

She smiled back. "Where else?"

"I'm never that hard on a witness."

"Suspect," she corrected. "And I actually do think you are going too easy on her."

"I would be a little tougher but I need to keep you on a leash."

He had grinned at her but she still took it as a slam. "This was your idea, Booth. You know I don't act very well."

"You're not acting," he pressed playfully. "You're ready to rip her head off."

"I am not. I am not out of control," she assured him. "It was a good plan to pretend like Taffet is getting to me. That I am losing it. But how is Dawes going to get that information back to her?"

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Taffet has a mole."

"At the FBI?"

"She was a US Attorney for years, Bones. I'm sure she convinced some people that she was not guilty."

"Well that is not good," Bones exclaimed. "If we can't trust the people at the FBI, who can we trust?"

"She is not the only one with friends, Bones."

"What about Hodgins? He is down in the garage … is he safe?"

"Sully is with him and Sorenson, he is safe." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Trust me; I am taking care of you and your people." The smile on his face faded. "Wasn't counting on your father not staying put and didn't even consider Daisy until it was too late." She looked down; there was nothing to say. It was not Booth's fault any more than it was hers, but those people - her father, Ms. Wick and Agent Walker - were still missing. "It's just like Taffet to go after the weakest links … of course I wouldn't count your father as weak."

"Or Walker?" Brennan asked. "Is she as highly trained as you are?'

"Yes, she is – maybe more so."

"I don't believe that."

"The good news is that they are out of their cells – hell, the best news is that they are not underground. I'm sure that we will be hearing from Walker soon. She has been in Iraq, Afghanistan and a bunch of other places that are too dark to mention. Daisy couldn't be in better hands."

"She could be in yours, Booth," Brennan said; her voice suddenly cracking. "That could have been you. I don't think I could -" her voice broke off and she stepped away from him.

"Hey … don't really lose it on me, Bones. I need you back in there. We need to drop the 'D' bomb on her."

She looked back at him. "I don't know what that means, but I'm fine."

"No, you aren't. None of us are, but we need to keep it together, right?"

She considered a split second, then considered again before she spoke. "Booth, I need you to know something."

"About the case?"

"No," she searched his eyes taking just a moment too long to speak.

"Bones." He had an idea what she was about to say but it was not the time or place. Of course if he was wrong about what she would say, he didn't need to hear it right then. "Let's stay focused, Huh?"

Something occurred to her. Maybe he didn't want to hear what she wanted to say because he didn't feel the same way. He had moved on. In spite of his comments early, in spite of the kiss they shared, in spite of his overly hostile response to Sully, maybe he had moved on. He didn't seem as concerned about Walker and he was about her father, so it must be someone else. "Right." She dismissed the thought from her mind and threw her walls up again. "Let's get back to Dawes," she said coldly.

"Wait, Bones. What just happened here?"

"It's OK … I understand."

"What do you understand?"

"I have been trying to say something to you since this morning and you clearly don't want to hear it. So, I suspect that you don't want it said and by not allowing me to say it you are saving me the embarrassment of rejection. It's actually very chivalrous of you. So, thank you."

"No ... chivalrous? No, Bones," he protested. "That's not fair."

"I'm not sure why I have to be fair."

Booth was formulating his response, when there was a quick knock on the door. It opened and Sully stepped in.

"Where is Hodgins?" Brennan demanded.

"Right outside with Sorenson," Sully said. "He needs to get back to run his tests. Where are you with Dawes?"

"About to head back in for round two," Booth told him. "You take Hodgins back and we'll call you. Check in with Angela about the trace and anything else she has turned up on Dawes, Joy Keenan, or the house. What have they found on the warehouse/factory angle?"

"Nothing yet, but the whole eastern seaboard is a pretty big pool. Hoping that Hodgins can narrow it down."

"Maybe we can get Dawes to slip up?'

"Have you given her her phone call yet?"

"You don't think she will call Taffet?"

"No, not directly, but she will contact her in some way."

Sully paused before he asked his next question. "You really think Rachel Dawes is Taffet's daughter."

"There are -," Bones was about to launch into the observable physical evidence but Booth stopped her.

"We do. We are going to play that card right now."

"And you both think this will net us something?"

"This was not a clue that Taffet left for us, this was just plain good detective work and will probably throw them off their game."

"I suppose you have thought about letting her go and tracking her."

"Not seriously," Booth stated. "I don't underestimate Taffet and I am sick and tired of playing by her ground rules. It is time to take back the ball and make her play our game. Let's go, Bones." He opened the door for Brennan to precede him out.

Brennan paused before the interrogation room door. She needed to find her mood. It wasn't hard, she did want to rip this woman's head off. If she thought that it would help, she might have.

"Bones?" Booth put his hand on her shoulder. She reactively pulled away. "Bones, don't -."

"Let's keep our minds focused." There was no sign of agitation or irritation. Whatever she was feeling was a mystery to Booth and probably to Brennan.

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Angela was wound tighter than a drum while Hodgins was out of the lab. Cam and Sweets were with her working the evidence they had, but she was jittery and nervous. She was continuing to following the JoyKeenan/Dawes/money connection. She was tracking how and when the house was purchased, who paid the electric bills, the credit cards used on the Amazon account. One name, rather one company coming up on both Dawes' and Keenan's information: Lafayette Construction.

"Ange?" Hodgins called from her doorway. She tossed down her 'keyboard' and ran to him. They shared a very private moment in a very public setting. Cam and Sweets tried to ignore them, but as they were trapped in the office; they couldn't give them privacy. "It is late, honey," Hodgins said brushing her hair behind her ears. "You need to get some rest."

"Soon sweetie, soon ... I think I am on to something. I found a connection - I think - between Joy Keenan and Rachel Dawes. It is a construction company out of Maryland named Lafayette Construction."

"Lafayette?" Sweets joined their conversation. "The name of the kidnapper in the book is Lafayette. I thought she was just being cute with the name Taffet. In the book, she owns self storage facility but doesn't say where."

Sully, who had been listening to this whole conversation, butted in. "Angela, Where are they located?"

"Outside of Poolesville ... it is about an hour west of Washington. But it's just a PO box."

Sully considered for a moment. "OK ... leap of faith here ... is there a Self-Storage facility in Poolesville with some connection to Lafayette Construction?"

Angela checked and all waited as she flew threw more data than they even knew what they were looking at. "No," she said. "Wait ... wait ... wait. There is a Store-N-Lock built by Lafayette Construction six years ago ... in fact that is the only building permit Lafayette construction has ever pulled. Less than two years ago there was some damage done to the building, something about the rain, and a remodel was done, but it never reopened. None of the units are rented. The residents of Poolesville were not happy about that."

"Sounds like a place to start." Sully smiled at the group. "Good work everyone." He looked at Hodgins, "Taffet probably won't be there, so we still need your analysis of what you found in the car to see if we can track her down."

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Rachel Dawes sat stone faced regardless of what tactic Booth or Brennan tried. The only hint of recognition they got was a slight smug smile when they accused her of being Taffet's daughter. They were done with her - for the moment. Booth made sure she went through the ENTIRE booking process (body cavity search, delousing and isolation) she would get her phone call, but not until they were completely done booking her. The charge? He went for the max (with Caroline's approval). Kidnapping topped the list, but there would be no bail set for her any time soon. "Who you will get to defend you, Ms Dawes?" Brennan sneered. "Your mother won't. She has abandoned you again. Do you think she will come back for you a second time? She used you and now she is done." Booth was shocked to see exactly how mean Brennan could be.

Booth got a call from Sully who brought him up to speed on the whole Lafayette/Poolesville connection. He asked them to try it on Dawes to see what kind of response they would get, but Booth nixed that idea. First she was in booking and second, he didn't want her to tip anyone off. Booth and Sully had already discussed the possibility of a mole in the FBI, someone who would relay information back to Taffet. So when it came to planning the raid on the storage facility, they didn't want to call out the SWAT team. Booth contacted a friend in the unit. Asked for six guys he knew he could trust for a operation. Within thirty minutes they were on their way to Poolesville.

Brennan sat in the back seat behind Booth. They were barely speaking. The discussion they had before they left was short but very heated.

"I'm going."

"No, you're not."

"I'm going with you, or I'll drive myself."

"Bones, I need you to stay here. I can't be -."

"I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure that is what Maggie said right before she was tasered and locked up."

"Booth, you are not going without me."

"This could be exactly what Taffet has planned. She could be luring us there to take us all out."

"Fine, I am going."

"Booth," Sully interrupted. "We have got to go."

Booth eyes flamed red. "Stay behind me ... AT ALL TIMES," he barked at her. "And you don't get a gun."

Booth couldn't stop being mad long enough to realize what a jerk he was being. About thirty minutes into the drive his mind turned to their conversation - their shortened conversation in the observation room and the one from her office. What had he prevented her from saying? He imagined that she was going to tell him she loved him, words she had only said once to him after he said it to her and essentially took it back almost immediately. _**In an atta girl kind of way**_ ... what a jerk. He didn't even say it to her that night - that night of nights - the night he said he had to move on. What a jerk. Why did he stop her this time? He would have returned the statement. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. He wanted their partnership to change. He wanted to plan a life and a future with her. What was preventing him? Was it Sully? Was it the case? Was it really just bad timing? Or was it the fact that she had run away for eight months without a word? She made a life without him and she was happy. She looked happy, she looked beautiful, unburdened and happy. Now she looked miserable. How could he take her away from that life? How could he ask her or expect her to come back to the cold reality that was his life - the FBI, the death, the destruction, the constant fear, psychos like Taffet who steal her friends, her family to punish her for doing her job. How could he take her back to such an existence? That would be cruel; you are not cruel to the people you love.

He stole a look in his rear view mirror and adjusted it so he could see her eyes. She was looking out the window; she looked pissed. They needed to stay focused on the case. If something happened to Max, Brennan would never forgive herself. He needed to reassure her somehow. He needed to let her know that his anger was mere frustration at the situation. He couldn't add to her pain. Thank God, Sully wasn't in the car, but his buddy from SWAT and another guy were. He stole another look in the rear view.

Brennan was looking at him. He smiled slightly. She couldn't see his mouth, but saw the smile in his eyes. She nodded back. He was forgiven. She loved that man; how could she have left him? He knew her inside and out. What he didn't understand about her he wanted to learn. What he didn't like about her, he was willing to over look. At least that was her impression. It wasn't a blind love she had for him; it was based in cold hard reality. She had been so worried about getting swept away by love that she would lose herself. The reality with Booth was that she didn't need to change for him - with the possible exception of giving up a few of her credos. The island getaway was not a mistake so much as it was too long. She should have come home months ago. She should have contacted him and told him all that she had discovered. Why did she wait? Her biggest fear was that it was too late. He clearly didn't want to hear what she had to say. It was too late.

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"KEENAN!" Maggie called again working her way around toward where the noise came from. Daisy could be heard from the upper floor crying. As she got closer she heard moans. "Keenan?" she called again before she fell over something sharp. She felt down her leg to where the pain was the worst. It was wet, wet with blood. She kept moving. "Keenan, talk to me Old Man."

"Watch yourself," he called back. "Big drop."

"You alright?" She strained to see in the dark wishing she had her night vision goggles.

"Dislocated my shoulder," he groaned. "I won't be able to pull myself up."

"How far down?" She was still moving toward him. She imagined it was another ten feet.

"Can't tell. Hang on."

"Is everyone OK?" Daisy called in a squeak of a voice.

"Stay there Daisy," Maggie called back. "We're OK." Maggie finally made it to the drop off. "What is this?"

"Well if this were an auto body shop, I would say that this is a well, but I don't think it is."

"Where the hell are we?"

Suddenly they were stilled but a noise from beyond their room. The slide bolt on the door slid back with a clang. The door opened and the room flooded with light.

"Who is there?" Daisy squeaked out.

Max could see Maggie's expression. "So, not a rescue, huh?"

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**A/N:** Comments encouraged.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 9**

**A/N:** Looks like we are picking up some new readers. Alerts are nice. Comments Welcome. As for Chapter 9: At long last … something more than nothing … but is it too late?

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Maggie was working her way to Max. Suddenly they were stilled but a noise from beyond the room. The slide bolt on the door slid back with a clang. The door opened and the room flooded with light.

"Who is there?" Daisy squeaked out.

Officer Andy Richter of the Leesburg, Virginia PD stood in the doorway not understanding what he was seeing. It looked like a prison, but why would there be a prison inside a warehouse? He heard someone from above call out. He stepped in; saw Maggie first. He saw the blood. He suspected by the way Maggie was positioned that she was trying to reach someone who had fallen through the floor. "What is going on here?" he demanded to know right before the taser zapped him in the neck and he fell to the floor.

Someone wearing hat and gloves, reached in, took his gun and pushed him beyond the door. The heavy metal door slammed back into place and the dead bolt secured.

Max could see Maggie's expression. "So, not a rescue, huh?"

The lights went out again.

"Thinking no."

"But we have a flashlight now, yes?"

"Yes." Maggie crawled over to where she saw the officer fall. She searched around and found his flashlight on the floor.

"So you think that was Taffet?" Max called.

"I couldn't tell; it looked male, not female – but that was from 30' away with bad light." She inspected her wound with the flashlight. "So we are being guarded," she said absent mindedly as she tended to her wound. "I didn't expect that."

"Maybe we can get them to turn … you know help us."

"Wouldn't bet the farm on that."

"The cop was not supposed to be here; and if that guy is anyone but Taffet with a death wish, he is beating feet right now."

She grunted as she tied some makeshift bandage into place. "Well that is gonna leave a mark." She stood up and limped over to where Max was still contained. "Not sure how we are going to get you out of there."

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About ten miles from Poolesville Maryland they got final word from Caroline that they had a warrant to enter the facility. She made sure this time that everything was legal - i's dotted, t's crossed. The fact that she had written the warrant days ago and had a judge at the ready to sign it pending location was just good lawyering. The fact that they would be entering a facility under "precedent of imminent danger" meant that they didn't need a warrant, but they weren't taking any chances.

They parked about three hundred yards from the location off the road in the trees. They would have to hoof it in. They didn't want to alert anyone that they were coming. Brennan was behind the SUV putting on her vest. Booth came around and saw that she was struggling with it. "Here, let me." Like a dad putting on a child's snow suit, he dressed her. He pulled the tabs off, adjusted the shoulder straps and positioned it correctly across her chest to cover all vital organs. It was clearly not designed for someone her size or … shape. He cinched up the straps on the side and affixed the Velcro strap across the chest so the vest was tight. "Ok?"

"As long as I don't have to breathe," she choked out.

He smiled at her. He loved her. That was all there was to say. He loved her; he was in love with her. Nothing had changed, but nothing was the same. She could make him angry; she could frustrate him like no one's business. She was competent, self-reliant, and independent. She didn't need him. Booth didn't know how to be with a woman would didn't let him take control, but he always seemed to pick strong willed independent woman. Brennan of course was the pinnacle. She was amazingly strong willed, and of course there was the whole BRILLIANT thing that never got old. She was out of her element on this case. There were no bones to read; no science to glean or facts to find. There was only one dead body so far, and he needed to do everything in his power to keep it that way. He had never felt this way about any one before. He wanted to tell her, he wanted shout it from the roof tops. Things were going to be different for them; if they survived this, things would be very different. They had to be, he couldn't let her walk out of his life, not again.

He pulled the Velcro straps off and repositioned them a little bit looser. "Better?" he said lowly. The desire to kiss her was full on him again.

"Yes, thanks." She looked up into his eyes. They were soft, warm, loving and inviting. Was that the opening she was waiting for?

He touched the infa-red goggles she had in her hand. "You Ok with these?"

"Yes."

"If the lights come up …"

"Shut my eyes and take them off immediately," she repeated his instructions though she had been used to night work long before she met Booth but never on that kind of mission.

"Good. Stay behind me … please," he said gently. He would have preferred to hogtie her and put her in the back of the SUV until it was over.

"I will … but I have no wish for you to take a bullet for me again."

"I'd like to avoid that myself. Here." He handed her a weapon. "Don't shoot me in the back, OK Bones?"

"I'm an excellent shot, Booth."

"Yes you are, Rainman."

"Booth - "

"Max is gonna be fine," he assured her. "Guns are not Taffet's MO … this is just in case."

"Booth, please don't get hurt," she said in a small voice. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Bones," he joked a little too blithely for her tastes.

"Booth." She touched his arm and searched his eyes for the courage to say what she had to say regardless of the response. "I love you, Booth. Please don't get hurt or killed. Please don't -"

He stopped her with a kiss; it was a reaction. He hadn't planned it; it was not appropriate given their setting. He crushed her into a tight embrace as much as the vests would allow. 'I love you,' his mind screamed out. 'God, I love you.' He heard it; loud and clear, but there was no voice. Why was there no voice? He looked her in the eyes. "Be careful." He brushed some hair away from her face. "Let's go find your dad. OK?"

She nodded her agreement forcing down the fear of what was coming next. She meant what she said. She couldn't lose him. But she didn't understand his reaction. It didn't matter. It wasn't the time or place. She just needed him to know.

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Angela was continuing to work the data in her office; Hodgins was down in the lab. Cam and Sweets were working their own set of data in the lounge. "We are getting nowhere," Sweets said tossing the files that he had across the room.

Cam nearly jumped out of her skin. She had just gotten into a fight with Michelle about why she had to stay house bound. She was missing all her friends at a basketball game. Cam didn't want to tell her how dangerous it was for her to be out in the world. She was trying to protect her. But it left her completely on edge. "Sweets!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm going crazy here."

"Well chers," Caroline said breezing into the office. "This ought to just make your night. We have a SWAT team and your FBI boys headed out to that Storage Facility in Poolesville. With any luck, we will have your missing people back in a couple of hours."

Angela joined them and looked confused. "The storage facility? No, No … why are they going there?"

"Isn't that the information you gave them?"

"Yes, and no … there is a warehouse that just recently had some work done. That's where they're probably holding them … if at all. I mean this is all a huge supposition."

"Where is it?"

"It's in Virginia … north of Leesburg. About 30 minutes from Poolesville." She pulled up the address. "That storage facility has been closed for years."

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The team made their way toward the Storage Facility spreading out to come at it from all sides at once. There was a fence around it and it looked abandoned. There was no power at the facility. Booth, Sully and Jacobson with Brennan in tow took the front. Jacobson easily scaled the fence and unlocked the gate for the rest. The other three units were also inside the perimeter. There was snow on the ground that had not been trampled on. No one had been there in months.

"Something is wrong," Booth called to Jacobson nodding toward the snow.

"You think we have the wrong place … NOW you think we have the wrong place?"

"We should still check it out … but no one has been here. At least not since the last snow."

Jacobsen clicked a message to the other units. They all froze and held their positions. Booth and Jacobsen advanced on the facility, leaving Brennan and Sully to watch their backs. A long few minutes of dead silence, then the full team came from around the side. A 'no joy' gesture was made. Booth was on the phone, by time they reached Sully and Brennan, he had hung up. "We have a new location – let's go."

They ran back to their vehicles. Brennan was trying to hear what Booth was saying to Jacobsen, but missed most of it. It was something about a warehouse and Leesburg. She wondered how they lived with that kind of adrenal kick only to be denied the completion of the mission.

A call was put into Leesburg PD, who reported that one of their officers was not responding. They were put on alert and were requested to have EMTs standing ready. Poolesville PD was told they could stand down.

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Maggie could hear the officer coming to, but couldn't deal with him at the moment. The only good news was that the local PD would be looking for a cop. It was just time away; less than twenty four hours, in her mind. Daisy however needed help sooner. Max was in a well about 6' deep, about 5' x 4'. "Think you can climb at all?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Cell door? You could use it like a ladder."

"Nothing to brace it with."

"Well maybe Officer Krupke here can pull you up." She went back over to him, careful not to the shine the light in his eyes. "Hey Officer … come back to us."

He groaned and groggily asked "What the hell happened?" He touched the spot on his neck where the taser hit.

"Yeah, that's gonna sting a bit for a while, but you'll live."

"Who are you?"

"Margaret Walker … Agent .. DCIS. I have been tasked to the FBI to track Heather Taffet."

"Yeah … yeah … we got a call about that. Someone said they saw someone matching that description out here."

"Hence the taser. We've been abducted." She helped him up. "One of us fell down a whole in the floor, can you help me get him out?"

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Rachel Dawes was given her phone call - finally. She sat stone faced as dialed, waited for the beep, entered a three digit code and hung up. She waited a minute before calling the guard back to take her to her cell. Once there she sat perfectly still. Her expression was unreadable. The door to the hall opened and she heard the guards talking. She dropped her head to her chest, with in a moment her shoulders were shuttering, her head was bobbing, and sobbing moans were heard.

Agent Robert Hendricks stepped up to her cell. "Rachel?" She continued to sob. "Rachel, honey?"

She looked up. Tears were streaming down her red face. "Oh Bobby!" She flew at the cell door to link hands with him. "What is happening? I don't understand. I don't know what I'm supposed to have done."

"They think you are helping Heather Taffet ... you know the Gravedigger."

"That awful women who kidnaps people, buries them alive and demands ransom or she will let them die?" He nodded. "Oh my god, why do they think that? I thought this was a traffic violation."

"What did they ask you?"

"All kinds of things that I didn't have the answers for. They accused me of being someone's daughter - they might have said Taffet. Why do they think that?"

"I don't know, honey," he tried to calm her down. "Did you ask for a lawyer?"

"Yes ... no ... I don't know ... I was so scared."

"I know, baby, I know. Look I know a lawyer, let me give him a call and I'll see if we can get you out of there."

"Thanks, Bobby. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'll never have to find out." He kissed her through the bars and left. As soon as he was out of sight, Rachel's expression went flat again. There was the edge of a grin across her lips. Mother was right. It is good to keep a cop in your pocket.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Together the officer and Maggie pulled Max from the well. Maggie fixed his shoulder and made a sling out of his belt. They checked on Daisy and brought her down to the first level near the door. The officer generously gave Daisy his jacket for her legs. She didn't look good.

"So Officer," Walker asked. "What is outside?"

"An empty warehouse ... with the exception of this place that was walled off. Like a building within a building."

"Did you see a car? Did you call in the plates?"

"No car, no one was here which is why I didn't call for back up." He used the flashlight to search the floor. "My radio?"

"Won't work in here." She had already tried.

"What ... are the walls lined with lead?"

"No, just a jammer. Did it look like anyone was staying out there? You know, table? Chair? Bed? Heater? Food?"

"No, nothing ... and I have to tell you it is colder out there than it is in here."

"That's not saying much."

He nodded toward Daisy. "Is she gonna make it?"

"If we get her out of here. She hasn't had any food or water in a couple of days ... and the cold is not helping."

"Well I don't know how long before they start looking for me. I was on by myself tonight - well me and the dispatcher. She will give me a least two check-ins before she calls up anyone else."

"How long between?"

"60 Minutes."

"Great ... well ... we should be able to last two more hours." Maggie looked at Daisy. Her eyes were glassy and she was still shivering, but she wasn't talking.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth and crew were approaching the warehouse. They again had split into four teams to hit it from all sides. The south team had found a Leesburg PD patrol car hidden in the back under a tarp. They had the right location. A call was put into the PD to secure the roads leading away from the warehouse. The power was shut off at that main breaker. A man was left there to turn it one when the time was right. They entered the building through two doors. Booth and Jacobsen took point on one. Brennan and the new kid took up the rear of that unit.

There was almost nothing inside the warehouse. No remains of what it used to be used for. The center was a building within the building. This must have been the remodel that Angela was referring to. There was one door into the facility. One of Jacobsen's guys went to inspect the door for booby traps. He found none. He was waiting for the order to breach the door, when there was an explosion from the south side of the building. The floor shook and reports were coming in from all men. Seems there was a time delayed booby trap on the south entrance.

Booth immediately turned to the new kid, "GET HER OUT OF HERE!" he ordered.

The kid turned to Brennan who had no intention of moving. "Please, ma'am ... I'll have to carry you if you don't come now."

Brennan would have liked to see the kid try, but there was another explosion from the other side of the building. She did as she was ordered.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

There was a loud noise, like a small explosion outside the walls. The emergency lights went on inside the warehouse. Then another one. It was muffled through the walls, but it was undeniably an explosion. Max, Maggie and Officer Richter shared a look. That couldn't be good. Then six loud pops that came in quick succession were herd on the upper level, one from each cell. Gas started filling the room.

"That is definitely not good."

"We gotta get low," shouted Maggie. She had no idea what the gas was or how pervasive it would be in that large a room. Clearly they weren't meant to get out of their cells. She and the officer quickly shared a knowing look. "The well."

"I just got out of there," Max complained as he moved toward it carrying the blankets.

Officer Krupke picked Daisy up and carried her over to the well. He set her down on the edge, jumped down himself and then had Maggie lower her down to him. Max jumped down himself and fell on his shoulder again. Maggie tried to land on one leg, but tumbled onto her injured on reopening the wound.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Jacobsen gave the order for the power to be restored. "GO! GO! GO!" Jacobsen ordered. The door was breached. The smell of the gas was pervasive. Booth knew what it was and it was not good.

"WALKER!" He shouted through the cloth on his mouth and nose.

"In the well."

Lit a pit crew every man set to a task. The hostages were pulled from the pit and escorted out of the room. They were not safe in the warehouse, so they didn't stop until they were outside and a good 50 yards from the structure. Orders were giving for the local PD and EMTs to come. Brennan was at her father's side as soon as he was put down.

"Hey honey," he said. "How was your vacation?"

"Better now, Dad." She hugged him hard and he groaned with pain. "Dad?"

"I'm OK, honey. Old football injury," he joked. "Daisy is in pretty bad shape."

Daisy was being tended to my the new kid and Sully. "Will she be OK?" Brennan asked Sully.

"Some IV fluids, a warm bath and some food and she should be OK."

"Miss Wick?"

"Dr. Brennan ..." she said weakly.

"Don't talk, Ms. Wick. You will be OK."

Brennan looked over and saw Booth talking with Walker. She was still standing but leaning on him holding her injured leg off the ground. They were smiling - nah laughing about something. Booth turned to find Brennan in the crowd as the EMTs arrived. Brennan quickly looked away.

At the edge of the clearing for the Warehouse a good distance away, she saw a figure watching them. The person pulled her cap off revealing medium length auburn hair. The person was Heather Taffet and she was looking right a Brennan. She pointed directly at Brennan. Brennan assumed she was being taunted again. She pointed backand called out "BOOTH!" A shot rang out.

All eyes were turned to where the shot came from. The order to return fire was given. The shooter ran toward the other side of the warehouse. She was hit at least once. Booth, Jacobsen and three other men gave chase. There was another loud explosion. The people watching stilled to silence. A long thirty seconds later the five men stepped back into view they couldn't take their eyes off the remains of a body in and out of the crater. "This is a job for Bones," Booths muttered. Whomever that body was, he would bet money that it wasn't Taffet's.

He turned back to where Brennan was standing. The EMTs were working on someone on the ground. Booth's heart froze. Sully made eye contact with him. Did he shake his head? Did Sully shake his head NO? Booth ran toward them his fear increasing with each step. There was so much blood. She wasn't moving. The EMTs were barking orders to each other and into the radio. Booth was helpless. They needed to transport STAT. He was ordered to stay at the scene, but he would not leave her side.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

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**A/N:** Ohhhh ... another cliff. Not to worry. Can't kill Brennan off; that would just be rude. But that doesn't mean she can't get roughed up a little bit. I've been meaning to apologize for the lack of beta, I am working hard to get the chapters out fast. Work seems to take up too much of my day. Comments encouraged.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 10**

**A/N:** Wow … definitely thought I would get a bigger reaction to the last chapter than that. Oh well.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth paced in the waiting room of the emergency clinic, the one closest to the warehouse in Leesburg, VA. Brennan had been with the doctor for a long time. She had regained consciousness in the ambulance and the EMTs had diagnosed the gunshot as a graze, a pretty bad graze, but a graze. The bigger concern was that she had hit her head very hard on a rock when she fell to the ground. They were worried about a concussion or worse a subdural hematoma.

The doctor finally came out. "Are you Agent Booth, the partner?" Booth nodded too afraid to use his voice. "We are moving her to George Washington. She needs a CT Scan or an MRI; we don't have that proper equipment here and no one here really specializes in head injuries. She will be airlifted." Booth's eyes widened. It was serious if she was going to be airlifted. "It's just a precaution Agent Booth but with head injuries we don't want to take any chances. She did lose consciousness for more than five minutes."

It felt like longer to Booth. It felt like forever. And there was so much blood. "I'm going with her."

"I'm sorry sir, but there won't be room. We are sending the other patient …" He looked at another chart in his hand. "A Wick, Daisy Wick as well. She will need to spend a few days in the hospital and can be treated better there."

Booth wanted to protest, but he knew that the doctor was doing what he thought was best. "May I see her?"

"Briefly … AirEvac will be here shortly." The doctor stepped back. "Please don't upset her."

Booth nodded. Upset her? Why the hell would he upset her? He wasn't going to upset her. He loved her. He entered the area where they were treating Brennan. Her head was back and her eyes were closed. There was still a lot of blood in her hair and a huge gash that the nurse was tending to on the side of her head. Two centimeters to the left and she would have been dead. "Bones?" he called gently to her. The nurse smiled at his pet name.

Her eyes opened but it took a moment to focus and then focus on Booth. "Hey … they are overreacting," she protested groggily seeing the worry in his eyes. "I'll be fine."

He took her hand and pressed it between both of his. "They are just doing their jobs, Bones." He smiled tentatively at her. "They won't let me fly with you," he said sadly. "Guess Daisy got the last ticket." He tried to joke, but it was just not funny. "But I will only be an hour behind you. OK? I'll call Angela and Hodgins. They will meet you there."

"Not necessary ... and they won't let them ..."

"Angela can talk her way by a hungry pit bull; she can handle a couple of night nurses at GW."

"Pregnant ... shouldn't be ..." She lost her train of thought.

"Pregnant?" All kinds of thoughts flooded Booth mind, none of them made any sense. "You? You're pregnant? Did you tell the doctor?" Booth and the nurse exchanged a quick look. The nurse shook her head 'no.'

"Angela ... shouldn't come to ... pregnant." Her head throbbed.

"Sir, please don't upset her," the nurse said.

"Ok, Bones ... Ok ... don't worry."

"My Dad?"

"Flirting with the nurses," he said but she wanted real information. "Dislocated shoulder. He should be fine. I'll keep him with me."

"Agent Walker?" Brennan was finding it harder to form full sentences. The headache was becoming unbearable.

"Fine … she's fine."

"Her leg?"

"Scratch … she's cut herself worse shaving." Brennan's eyes darkened a bit. "So she says," he tried to cover. "She will be fine."

"Taffet?"

"Don't worry about Taffet." He didn't bother to tell her that they had a body. That some were convinced was Taffet; he was not. That they would need Bones to prove that it was or wasn't. In the mean time he intensified the BOLO in the Leesburg and surrounding area and was having the remains shipped back to the Jeffersonian.

"Agent Booth?" the orderly called from the door. "We need to go."

Booth nodded and gestured for another moment. He leaned down close to Brennan's ear. "Give your brain a rest, OK Bones? I've got it from here. You did great." She shook her head. He kissed her forehead and looked down into her eyes. "This is all going to be over soon … tonight. Then we have a conversation to finish, right?"

"Conversation?"

"Agent Booth?" the orderly called again.

He kissed her lightly on the forehead and again on the lips. "I'll see you in an hour." He flashed his best charmed smile but his heart wasn't into it. He was scared; scared for her, scared for them. They were so close but too much could still happen.

"Be careful."

"Nothing will happen to me."

"Be careful," she repeated.

"I promise."

He watched as they moved her from the table to the gurney that would take her to the chopper. He couldn't bring himself to leave her side until they wheeled her out, through the doors and she was gone. He sunk down on to the nearest flat surface he could find. He didn't have the strength to stand anymore. He came so close to losing her.

"Very touching," Walker said caustically. "And if you are thinking that this is your fault, you're absolutely right."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Sully was the lucky one who got to call the lab and report the good news and the not so good news. Sweets was beside himself when he heard about Daisy. He wanted to get to the hospital immediately. Sully had to remind him that Taffet was possibly still out there, and that even though they had apparently foiled her plan to kill six members of their group, she was still dangerous if indeed she were still alive.

Angela was the only one who felt the gravity of Brennan's injury. Everyone else heard that she was alive, but Angela heard 'gunshot,' 'head wound' and 'subdural hematoma.' She would live (probably), but would there be any lasting damage. How would Brennan cope in life if she didn't have full use of her enormous intellect? Taffet be damned; Angela was going to the hospital if she had to walk. Hodgins of course – in tune with every emotion his wife had (and there were a number of them) – made sure that they would be there to meet the AirEvac. He really wanted her to rest. She had been working pretty hard for the past 24 hours with only very short rest breaks. She was young and health – very healthy – but she was also pregnant.

Caroline joined the group. She had heard what happened through official channels. "So you've heard?"

"Yes," Cam told her. "Is there something we haven't heard?"

"Somehow Rachel Dawes made bail … and now no one can locate her. Or Agent Robert Hendricks."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth collected Sully, Max and Maggie and were about to head back to DC. He needed to keep his promise to Bones to be only an hour behind her – it would more likely be an hour and a half or two hours. Maggie's wasn't through her berating of him for taking Brennan to the Warehouse. Booth listened to it for as long as he could.

"Back off, Special Agent Walker," he finally snapped. "You don't know me and you don't know Bones. You think you do because you have one small piece of information, but you have no idea what you're talking about. She has saved my life more than once. Temperance Brennan is a strong, capable woman who can handle herself in very stressful situations, better than I have seen you do. She can shoot. She can fight. And she pays attention to all that is going on around her. She was the one who noticed Taffet, no one else. Six highly trained FBI SWAT agents, three fully trained special agents, and a cop all missed what the forensic anthropologist did not. Ten Agents - no one watching the perimeter? While I would have personally preferred she stay out of the line of fire, I know – professionally – that she can handle herself. Need I remind you that Taffet got the drop on you too and if it weren't for Brennan and her team of squints – you would have died in there. So back the hell off of me. You are no longer in charge of this investigation." He stormed off to get the SUV.

"Think you touched a nerve," Max said on the way to the SUV. He smiled to himself. He wondered how it would be having an FBI agent as a son-in-law. Nothing would change. If he had to, Booth would arrest him at Christmas dinner and Tempe would back him up. Good thing Max was treading the straight and narrow - well straighter and narrower but what they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them.

Sully kept pace with Maggie. "He's right you know." She turned to look at him about to rip into him. "About Brennan being able to take care of herself."

"She is not trained in -."

"Again, you don't know her." He stopped so she would stop too. "They are a hell of a pair those two. I pity the fool that tries to get between them … professionally or personally."

"I'm not trying to get between them … personally ... or professionally, but there is protocol for a reason."

He smiled and shrugged. "Been there, done that."

"Weren't you and the Amazing Doctor Brennan shacking up on that island of yours?"

"She is pretty amazing." He smiled thinking back to their time together. "But things are not always as they appear particularly when Tempe is involved."

"Does Booth know this?"

"I think he is figuring it out." He gently touched her shoulder in a more condescending than comforting way. "Booth is a bright boy. A little slow on the uptake sometimes, but he gets it eventually."

She shook her head and checked her watch. 3:16AM. Damn, she needed sleep.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Agent Robert Hendricks, 26, was a graduate of UConn with a degree in criminal justice and political science. He was from a large family, three brothers and three sisters. His mother and father were still married and teachers at the high school in Norwich, Connecticut. The extended family was close and all lived in New England, primarily in Connecticut. Bobby had just returned from a two week vacation visiting his family because he missed Christmas with them. He was low man on the totem pole, so he had picked up the holiday duty. His family didn't understand why he moved to Washington. What possible draw could the FBI have for him?

Bobby had met Rachel very close to the first day on the job. She was a bright young paralegal who liked her coffee exactly as he liked his. She was clerking for a judge. There was an instant connection. He really wanted to consider her his girlfriend, but they dated so sporadically. She was busy with her job. She would call out of the blue and they would have dinner or go to a movie and maybe he would get to kiss her good night. They did spend New Year's Eve together and she allowed him to stay the whole night. Bobby really thought it was leading somewhere. He was ready to take her home to meet his family.

Agent Robert Hendricks' body was found in the trunk of the FBI issue vehicle parked at Rock Creek Park just before dawn by a park official. Cause of death would be determined to be blunt force trauma to the occipital and parietal bones probably caused by the nine iron found in the trunk with him.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Sweets was waiting impatiently when the helicopter arrived. Angela and Hodgins had taken a place in the corner to wait calmly. Daisy was rushed through admissions and put in a semiprivate room, before Sweets even knew the AirEvac had landed.

He entered her room just as the last nurse was leaving. "Sir, no visitors."

"I'm with the FBI," he told her and flashed his ID. "I need to speak with Ms. Wick about her ordeal and the investigation."

"Keep it brief," the nurse scolded him.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Dehydrated, hypothermic … we are pumping her with fluid and bringing up her body temp … she will be fine in a day or so. She is a very lucky girl."

He walked slowly toward the bed and saw the monitors and IVs hooked up to her. She looked so small. She appeared to be sleeping so he let her rest. He brushed a light kiss on her forehead and sat down in the chair next to the bed. She woke with a start. Sweets was on his feet instantly. "You are OK," he told her taking her hand.

"Lance?" she squeaked out.

"You're OK … You're going to be OK."

Daisy finally let herself breakdown. Tears streamed from her eyes and her free hand went to cover her face taking the IVs with it. Sweets let her cry trying to comfort her as best he could.

"I have never been so scared in my whole life," she sobbed. "I thought I was going to die … I afraid to sleep … I thought I would never wake up." Sweets let her talk and kept a tight old of her hand. When she finally settled herself down she began to appreciate that Sweets was there. "How long?"

"I don't know … close to 48 hours … maybe more." He sighed. "Do you remember when you were taken?" She shook her head. She didn't remember anything but that jail cell and being so alone and cold. She started to cry again. "It's OK, you are safe now. Nothing like that will ever happen again. OK? I'll take care of you."

Daisy nodded weakly. "Tired."

"Sleep honey," he told her. "I will be right here when you wake up. Just sleep now." Sweets said a silent prayer and made a promise to get back in her life be it Washington, New York or Timbuktu.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Angela was with Brennan waiting to go into the examining room. "Sweetie, how you doing?" she asked. Brennan looked like hell. Most of the blood had been cleaned from her hair, but the lump on her head was noticeable. He eyes were fully dilated, bloodshot and she kept opening and closing her eye lids hoping to focus. Her skin was pale.

"Have a headache," she said softly.

"I can imagine." She brushed some hair off Brennan's face. "They say that the scan is just precaution, and that it won't hurt."

"I know, Angela."

"I don't want you to worry, OK? You won't be alone. Both Hodgins and I are here."

"Angela, you should go home. I'm fine."

"I know you think you are, but I am not going anywhere."

"You have been up for almost 24 hours, Angela. Where is Hodgins? He should take you home."

"Don't try to talk, sweetie."

"Angela!" She started to get frustrated but her head was throbbing.

"Sweetie … calm down."

She exhaled forcefully. "How is Daisy?"

"Fine, Sweets is with her. Booth is bringing your dad back with him. He should be here any minute. Booth is very worried about you."

Brennan shook her head. "It's too late, Angela."

"Too late?"

Brennan looked to be sure that Hodgins was out of ear shot. "I told him Angela."

"Told who what?"

"I told Booth … I told him I loved him."

"That is great, sweetie." Brennan closed her eyes and shook her head. "Not great? He didn't say it back?" Brennan shook her head. "Where were you?" Angela continued her prompting.

"Poolesville, Maryland."

"No, I mean what were you doing?"

"We were about to enter the Storage Facility."

"Well that was a mistake."

"I know; we found that out before we got the lead on the warehouse."

"No, I meant telling him with people around - particularly agents. What did he say?"

"Nothing … told me to be careful, to stay behind him."

"He didn't respond at all?"

"He kissed me."

"Where?"

"Behind the SUV."

"Where did he kiss you, sweetie?"

Brennan didn't answer but rubbed her fingers across her lips trying to remember. What kind of kiss was it? How many kinds were there? Had he ever kissed her before? Yes, but it wasn't like any of those. Maybe it was more like the one in the kitchen or maybe … maybe it was nothing. Just a way to get her to stop talking. "I'm too late, Angela," she said. "He has moved on."

"Not to that Agent Walker."

"I just don't think he cares any more. Not like he did. It's my own fault. I don't blame him."

"Sweetie, you have had a long day and a very long night … let's not worry about what Booth said or didn't say. But I will tell you if he didn't have feelings - really deep feelings - he never would have tracked you down to that island and he wouldn't have kissed you when you told him you loved him. That is just not Booth's way."

The techs came to take Brennan in for the CT Scan. Angela wanted to go with but was convinced by the technicians, Brennan and Hodgins that it was not necessary and too big a risk. Brennan had insisted they go home.

When the door closed behind her, Angela turned to Hodgins and buried her face in his neck. "Did you see that gash? Did you see her eyes … I have never seen them like that."

"She'll be OK, honey," he said reassuringly.

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It had been a quiet thirty minutes in the SUV. Booth was stone-faced and driving with determination. Maggie was behind him looking out the window. Sully was shotgun mentally working up his report. He thought about trying to talk to Booth about Tempe, but thought better of it. The last think Booth would want to hear is Sully trying to convince him that she was going to be OK. Max had his eyes closed with his head against the window. He wanted more drugs for his shoulder, but hadn't had time to fill the prescription before Booth demanded their departure. Jacobson and his team had remained at the warehouse while they were at the hospital securing the site and waiting for the FBI forensic team to come and collect all the evidence.

Several calls came in over the radio. A vehicle was stolen from a home near Martinsburg, Maryland - Honda Civic Hatchback, silver with the right tale light out. The description was of a woman, mid-forties, with red hair. The vehicle was last seen headed east on Whites Ferry. It was determined that she was headed back to Washington. Booth and crew were on the wrong side of the river and had to cut over when they came to the 495. Jacobsen and his men were about 10 minutes outside Martinsville. They would push her from the west and Booth would cut her off on the east. Local PD were contacted and asked for their assistance. They caught her merging on to SR28 from Whites Ferry Road and then turning south on to SR112. Booth did an illegal U-Turn on RT495 to exit heading west on SR190. If she were continuing to head east, he would cut her off. Jacobson et al were closing in from the west, about 8 minutes behind. Booth coming up 190, Jacobson coming down, Taffet was trapped in the Blockhouse Point Conservation Park.

She came to a full stop in the middle of the road. Booth stopped about 40 yards in front of her. He, Sully and Walker got out of the car; Max hunched down in the back seat. Jacobson stopped about 50 yards behind her. Booth and Taffet paused staring at each other; Booth's weapon aimed at her head (as were everyone else's weapons). Jacobson's men had taken positions with rifles at the ready if she tried to make a run for it. They were waiting for Booth to instruct her to get out of the vehicle and give up. He said nothing. The silence was deafening. Booth took a step toward her and another. Sully and Walker exchanged a look. Taffet grinned at Booth. The car was still in gear. All she had to do was pop the clutch & hit the gas. He may get her, but the car would more than likely get him. He kept advancing on her. One more step, two more steps, three more steps. She was sure that the SWAT behind her would not fire for fear of hitting Booth. The people behind Booth would not fire for the same reason. He was completely exposed. It was just the two of them ... head to head ... no games, no riddles, no clock ticking. Booth saw her hands tighten on the wheel. He saw her grin narrow and set her jaw. He heard the engine rev as she popped the clutch and the car lurched forward. Three shots, Booth fired in quick succession. He only needed one, but each one hit his mark. Taffet slumped to the left but the car was still moving forward but in an altered direction. It was veering off to the side of the road. The SWAT took out the tires and the car all but stopped about three feet from Booth. Two men from Jacobson's team secured the car and pronounced her dead. Booth lowered his weapon and exhaled. Walker was just about to approach Booth, but Sully held her back with a look.

"I'll call it in," Sully said to Booth. Booth didn't move or respond in anyway. "They will want your report." Booth nodded. "First thing." He looked like the car had hit him anyway. "Booth?" Sully asked again hoping to be informed what Booth would put in his report.

Booth knew what he wanted. This was not the proper protocol for the take down of a criminal. Booth knew – in his gut – that Taffet would not have surrendered to him. But he didn't know what he would have done if she had gotten out of the car. If she had tried to 'go peacefully.' He might have shot her anyway. Booth had killed people before. He had killed in war. He had killed by order. He had killed in the line of duty to protect his partner or civilians. He had killed in self-defense. But not until Taffet had he hated a person he killed – hated from deep down in his bones. He hated Heather Taffet for what she did to her victims, for what she did to him, for what she did to his partner. Maybe Walker was right. Maybe he was too close to the case, had too much riding on the outcome. Would another agent been able to bring her in? Maybe. Would she have escaped again? Maybe. Was it his right to force her hand like that?

"Booth?" Sully prodded again.

"Tell the truth," Booth said. He holstered his weapon and returned to the vehicle. He chose the passenger seat rather than the driver's.

Sully talked to Jacobson who would remain at the scene until the ME and the rest of the forensic team could arrive to clean it up. Sully took the driver's seat and Walker her position in the back. The remainder of the trip home was uneventful and continued in silence.

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**A/N:** One more chapter … should be all Booth and Brennan all the time. Time to wrap this puppy up so we can prep for Season 6.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Chapter 11**

**A/N:** I know I said ALL BOOTH/BRENNAN all the time, but there are some other people still hanging around the fringe that need to be ... disposed of before Booth and Brennan can really get down to it. Let's make heroes out of some and send them on their way, let's make villains out of the other ones and kick them to the curb – of course the core group will get back to the way they were and the center will hold.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Sully, Booth and Walker were ordered back to the FBI but Sully 'swung' by the hospital claiming that they needed to drop Max off to get his shoulder looked at. Booth asked at admitting where Brennan was and was told that it was not visiting hours. Sully again stepped in to keep him from exploding explaining to the nurse on duty that Dr. Brennan was witness to a crime and they needed to take her statement. The nurse made a BIG concession to allow only one agent to see Dr. Brennan. Sully nodded for Booth to go, and escorted Walker out under protest expecting Booth to find his own way back. Max followed Booth waiting for his turn to see his daughter.

The news of Taffet's death hit the news like they were on scene. Sully was accosted when he arrived back at the Hoover building by every news outlet in print or TV from Los Angeles to London. His NO COMMENTS were not received well, but he had a command performance with Director Rapaport and Assistant Director Hacker. He still didn't know what he would say. While it was true that she did not surrender, it was also true that they probably could have captured her alive. One round through the engine block would have disabled her vehicle. She did have a gun at the warehouse, so it was reasonable to assume that she still had it with her in the car, though none was found. Did he need to point out the possibilities? Or could he just report the events as they happened with no editorial? The SWAT guys were not a problem, they knew about reporting events as factually as possible and not editorializing. Booth would do that too. Walker was the wild card and she might have an agenda despite her protestations.

Sully was having a hard time figuring out Walker. Clearly Booth and she had a past - ancient and recent. She was the one who brought him back to DC when Taffet escaped. When had she turned on Booth? When had she decided she didn't want him working the case? Was it before or after Brennan returned? Was it after she realized that Booth would stop at nothing to protect Brennan? If Walker didn't know that before Taffet was taken down, she knew it after. But had she realized that Booth didn't stop at trying to protect Brennan. That the two of them would not give up until Daisy, Max and Walker were all returned, nor would they have stopped looking for Taffet. Did Walker not understand that about Booth and Brennan - that their sense of justice for everyone was paramount? It was the one way that they were alike. That's what was so disturbing about the Taffet shooting. Booth was out of character. He would kill when he needed to, but he normally did everything in his power not to until there was no other alternative. In the end, Taffet left him no other alternative; that was all that needed to be said. The rest was between Booth and his Father Confessor. Now to get Walker to tow that party line.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan was asleep when Booth entered the room. The light from above cast a soft glow across her face. He had never seen anyone so beautiful. The soft beeping of the EKG quietly crooning out her normal rhythm was music to him. There were other monitors hooked up but he would need her to explain them to him. He would need her to explain a lot of things to him. He would need her ... period. He silently pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down. He would wait, he would watch over her, he would be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. What would she think of what he had done? He had killed in the line of duty before, but why did this time feel different? He shot a fleeing felon that was all, but it wasn't. Taffet had gotten to him. He wanted her dead and that was against everything he had ever known or believed about himself. He had been trained to kill, from the time he was 18 he was trained to kill, in war, as a sniper, as a cop. He was trained to serve and protect and kill if necessary in the performance of his sworn duties, his responsibilities. But he was never trained to hate. He was never trained to hate his combatants, his targets, his suspects, or his felons. In fact the training was to take the emotion out of it all together – or so they said. Killing another human being changed a person regardless if it was a premeditated murder, an accident or in the performance of duty. It didn't matter if it was a first kill or a 68th kill. It changed a person. It should change a person. If it didn't then he was just like Taffet and every other sociopath out there. But how much had it changed him and could he live with the change?

"Booth?"

Her voice was smooth like silk and a welcome relief to his Super Ego barking like a drill instructor in his ears. "Hey, Bones!" His face lit up. "I didn't want to wake you."

"They wake me up every hour anyway," she said. "Are you ... you are OK?"

He stood up and leaned over her. "I'm not the one who got shot." He brushed some nonexistent strand of hair off her face just so he could feel her soft skin. Her eyes were clear and blue and focused on him. He loved when she looked at him, just him, when neither one could look away. He could live with what he had done. She was safe. He had made her safe. That was all that mattered. "How are you?"

"I'm fine ... bit of a headache that they won't give me anything for. They are worried about concussion. But I should be able to go home this afternoon."

"That's good." She tried to sit up but he put a gentle hand on her shoulder to keep her down. "Rest, Temperance."

"What time is it?"

"It is after 8AM ... took me a little longer to get here than I had planned. I'm sorry."

"Is everything OK?"

His face washed with something she couldn't quite read. "Taffet is dead," he said flatly.

Without saying another word Brennan knew that Booth was the one who had killed her. She didn't know the circumstances, but she was sure that Booth had been the one to pull the trigger. "I'm sorry you had to do that. I know how much you hate to kill someone even someone like Taffet." He sat down again. She reached for his hand. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "Not now, Bones."

"Yes, now Booth," she pressed. "What happened?"

Reluctantly he told her in short sentences. There was no embellishment, no commentary. It was quite literally just the facts.

"I'm sorry," she said again pressing his hand.

"Yeah, me too." He looked everywhere but in her eyes.

She sat up. "Booth." She forced him to look at her. She pulled slightly on his hand. She wanted to comfort him but he would have to help with the logistics.

He did look at her, he did respond to her gentle tug. He sat down on the bed facing her and allowed her to put her arms around him. After a moment he wrapped his around her and he buried his face in her hair. It smelled of hospital shampoo, blood and whatever they used to clean her wound with - mediciny. It wasn't how he remembered her smell, but he remembered how she felt in his arms and it was Brennan - his Bones. She whispered something in his ear but he didn't hear it. His head was too full of other stuff.

She said it again, louder. "I love you," she braved the second - rather third declaration. It was all she could think to say. So many other declarations were just not enough, maybe that wasn't enough either.

He sat back to look at her, all other thoughts left his mind. She had told him that before; it seemed like ages ago. She told him when he couldn't respond the way he wanted to. "Do you? Do you really?" That had always been the biggest issue between them, verbal communication. They could use the same terms (like love) but they didn't mean the same thing.

"Yes." She was worried by his expression. "More than as a partner, a friend," she explained. "Romantically … sexual-"

"I get it, Bones." He flashed a great grin quickly and then got serious. "I love you too," he said simply. "But you already knew that."

"No," she said keeping steady eye contact with him. "I honestly thought you had moved on."

He smiled slightly. "Nowhere to go after you, Bones. You are the end of the line for me."

"That is more ... romantic than accurate," she said in her all-go science way. She was still using Walker as her evidence.

"It's more than accurate. It's an unprovable fact, but a fact anyway. But I really don't want to have a debate right now." Walker or what Brennan thought of her never entered his mind. He leaned in close to her, his lips almost touching hers. "Is this OK?" he asked. She closed the short distance between them giving him her answer. It was more than OK.

Could it only have been 24 hours since she had kissed him in her kitchen? So much had happened. So much had been prevented from happening. So much had been finished. She wanted so much to get back to that moment only in this moment or the next. She wanted to be somewhere where they wouldn't be interrupted; somewhere where they could just be alone to talk, to explain, to apologize, to make plans, to not talk. Time had slowed to near stopping over the past 24 hours, now she wanted to speed past this next bit (hospitals and reports) and get to the part where it was just the two of them. She poured all those yearnings and desires into that kiss. He felt and returned each and every one of them.

"Interesting interrogation technique," the nurse called from the door. "Is that how the FBI questions all their witnesses? Because I am sure I have witnessed a crime or two that I would be more than willing to have sucked out of me." She liked her lips.

Booth refused to look guilty and it didn't occur to Brennan that she should. He was unceremoniously excused from the room. He promised to wait and be back as soon the nurse was done. He was again told that Dr. Brennan needed her rest. Bones smiled at him and shook her head. She didn't want to 'rest' any more. He understood her perfectly. He had a feeling that verbal communication would always be a challenge for them, but he had a new tool in his tool box to smooth out those challenges.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth waited in the hall down from her room, his head in his hands. He didn't want to deal with Nurse Ratchet again so he was hoping he could be invisible. Not likely. She had looked at him like he was an ice cream sundae and she had the only spoon.

"How is she?" Sully asked.

Booth looked up at the sound of his voice. "Might be a concussion, but no worse."

"Very lucky."

"Heard that." He leaned back and exhaled covering his eyes with his arm.

"The director wants to see you," Sully reminded him. Booth just nodded. "How well do you know Agent Walker?" Sully asked.

"Well enough."

"Well enough but not TOO well?" he pressed.

Booth fixed him with a glare. "What are you driving at, Sully?"

"Just wondering if she was the type to throw you under a bus because of some personal agenda she was pushing."

"Under a bus?" He shook his head. "No. No, of course not. She doesn't have a personal agenda."

"Oh no?" Sully smirked. "She dragged you back from Afghanistan pulling all kinds of strings to do it just to get your "help" on this case. Then as soon as Tempe is back in the mix, she tries to kick you both out of this investigation." Sully paused waiting to see if Booth would respond. "Just think she might have something other agenda."

He shook it off. "No. It's not her way."

"Are you sure about that? Woman scorned and all." Booth waved him off. "Booth, you and I both know that the events of this morning can be spun a little differently; spun in such a way to put you and your partnership with Tempe in a bad light. It might make the bureau question their reasons for keeping you, or her or questioning the cost benefit ratio of your continued partnership."

"I can't imagine that Maggie would …" Something occurred to Booth, maybe Sully would.

"I would check in with her to be sure. She dismissed me from the room before she gave her oral report to the director. I'm just saying." Sully handed him some paper. "Here's my report in writing. I want you to read it before I hand it in – so there are no misunderstandings between us."

Booth's eyes narrowed. "Say what you want to say, Sully." He pushed the papers back at him. "Follow your own conscience."

"I have. I was officially in charge of this investigation -."

"Why do you care? You are going back to your little island now, aren't you?"

"That is my point … if they need to find a scapegoat, let them use me. You are an excellent agent, Booth. Better than I ever was. You and Tempe together are unstoppable. This morning may not have gone down by the book, but I am willing to bet the results would have been the same. Taffet was not going to go back to prison. So it could have been me who had to take her down. It should have been me."

Booth saw the nurse that was in with Brennan pass him. "Yeah … whatever … it wasn't you and you know what, if the bureau wants to fire me or break Bones and me up – that is just fine with me." He started back down the hall.

"As long as it's your choice, Booth." Booth waved him off. It of course wasn't fine, but at least he knew that regardless of their professional relationship, the personal was about to take off.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Booth slipped backed into Brennan's room. "Hey, you still up for a visitor?"

"You're not a visitor," she smiled easily at him.

"No, but your Dad is still out there waiting for you and you boy Sully is here."

"He is not _**my**_ anything, Booth," she declared. "Jealousy is an irrational response to perceived encroachment of -"

"Who said I was jealous?"

"For my part I will own that I found it difficult to form an objective opinion about Agent Walker - as irrational as that is considering that I barely know her. And I find that I am relieved to know that she will no longer be working with us now that this case is over. I assume she won't, is that correct?"

"Correct."

"Will you continue to court her?"

"Court? Are we in the 1800s?"

"When I mention sex, you tend to get very ... prudish."

"I am not prudish, Bones."

"Will you continue to have sex with her?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowing. "No." Booth got very serious. "You have no reason to be jealous of Maggie," he stated. "She's someone I knew a very long time ago ... before I met you."

"And someone you reconnected with emotionally and sexually while you were in Afghanistan."

"As you did with Sully," he tried to hide the bitterness in his voice.

"This is not a competition," she scolded. "The difference between you and I - one of them - was that you were looking for a long term relationship - one that you suggested you wanted to last for 50 years. While I have always stated that I did not seek that kind of relationship." She didn't add that she hadn't believed in them at the time - like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. She has since revised her view. "So it follows that any relationship that I had with Sully or anyone else would be temporary, transitory, satisfying sexual urges without the –"

"I get it Bones." He wondered if Sully GOT IT too.

"See … prudish," she commented. "You, on the other hand, and the relationship you forged with Agent Walker would be one that was leading somewhere or you would not have entered into it."

"Big assumption there, Bones." He smiled and shook his head. "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

"I know the reference," she puzzled. "Freud's dream analysis, right? I don't see how it applies here."

Booth felt like he needed to get her to understand before they could move on (they would deal with Sully and the whole island adventure when they had more time). "I told you before that you were the end of the line for me. I knew that ... hell I knew that a long time ago."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"You have ruined women for me." She shook her head still not understanding. "It means that I was never going to find anyone like you - and you are the standard. That any woman I ever met would never come close to being someone I would want to spend the rest of my life with. That saying I was going to 'move on' and actually being able to do it were vastly different things."

"You're relationship with Agent Walker -."

"Fleeting, transitory ... convenient ... as rude as that sounds ... for both of us A concept you should understand." She shrugged a nod. He smirked at her. "Just wasn't going to happen for me. I was doomed to walk the earth alone," he grinned. "If you would not have me."

"You can't know that," she protested.

"Maybe not ... but I can feel it and I can believe it to be true. Believing comes before knowing."

"That is not rational and it can lead to wrong -."

"Bones." He exhaled forcefully. "Maggie was just a friend, a colleague with benefits at a time and place that I needed that. But it was not serious and it certainly wasn't leading anywhere."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Very sure."

"Are you sure that Agent Walker has the same attitude?"

"You are the second person who has suggested that to me in the past ten minutes."

"That might lend credence to a something that apparently escaped your notice."

"I don't think so. We mostly talked about you." It was a bit of an embellishment, but she didn't need to know that. He sat down on the bed next to her. "I don't want a debate on truth or faith or to discuss ex-lovers."

"No?" she asked playfully. "What do you want?"

"You are feeling better, aren't you?" He leaned forward, combed his hand through her hair and let his fingers curl around the back of her neck being very careful not to touch her wound or the lump he could feel at the base of her skull. "You, Bones. Only you. And box seats to the Fliers."

He leaned closer pulling her toward him ever so slightly. Their lips met lightly at first attempting a gentle, proper, hospital connection. But gentleness was not on her agenda. She pulled herself tightly against him and opened herself completely to what would have been a knee weakening (if she were standing) tangle of lips, tongues and arms. Booth found that her hospital gown did indeed open in the back and the soft, warm skin was more than a little ... distracting, encouraging, enticing. He could easily lose himself in the moment. The increased beeping of the EKG made Booth cognizant of their location and hers – as well as his – level of … interest. He put an end to it rather abruptly.

"Wow, whoa there, Bones ... don't think this is what the doctor had in mind when he ordered bed rest."

She flushed with desire and slight embarrassment. She was surprised at how his proximity could make her lose so much control and increase her already supercharged libido. She concluded it was due to her feelings for him. She had never been in love before – it truly was intoxicating.

"Did you blush?" He tilted her face up toward his. "Wow, never thought I would see you blush," he teased. "Guess that is one for my side," he leaned into kiss her again – it was more than hospital but less than 'let's take this to another room.' He pulled away slowly and let a soft sexy grin spread wide across his face. "They are releasing you this afternoon, aren't they?" She nodded. "Then you need to get some rest. I have to give my report to the director." May have a lot of free time after that, he thought. "I will meet you back here ... when? 3PM? To take you home."

"Ok," she said almost too quietly to hear.

"You Ok, Bones?" She nodded and smiled weakly. "What is it? Tell me."

"I was just reminded that this isn't over."

"No ma'am," he said proudly. "This has just begun." He attempted to kiss her but she turned away.

"No, I mean the case. There are reports to be filed, evidence to be catalogued. We have to prove the Taffet was behind the kidnappings with as much evidence as if we were going to trial. She was not just an escaped prisoner. And then there is Rachel Dawes. We need to make sure we have the evidence to put her in prison as well. This case is far from over."

"That is for tomorrow Bones, or the next day." He tilted her face back up. "We deserve a well earned pause in the action. Do you know what I mean?"

"There is just so much ... so much to do, so much to say ... so much ... too much."

"Not too much, Bones. We'll do it together. Just like always, OK? We haven't failed yet. And we won't start now."

He drew her into an embrace and she allowed it, but it was far from comforting. They still had Taffet-Fallout hanging over their heads.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Sully knocked and opened the door to Brennan's room shortly after he saw Booth leave. "You up for another visitor?" he asked.

"Sure," she said pulling up her blankets around her. "Booth said my Dad is out there."

"I didn't see him. He might have gone home to get some sleep." He looked her over. "You OK?"

"I'll be fine. Will probably have to comb my hair differently for a while, but I should be OK."

"Good." He hesitated a moment. "Did Booth tell you what happened?"

"He did."

"Well he is off to see the director right now." He shrugged. "Things should be OK."

"Of course they will."

He paused for a long moment. "So, Tempe … you aren't coming back, are you?"

"I will be back to close up the cottage, but I expect it is time for me to come home."

"Dead of winter here," he nudged. She nodded. "I only want you to be happy – whatever that means to you. And I want you to know that you will always be welcome at my little shack on the beach."

"So being back in the thick of it hasn't made you want to rethink your bohemian lifestyle?"

"Actually it has. There are benefits to this job … not the least of which are the actual benefits – steady paycheck, health insurance, living in a town that has more than one traffic light."

She smiled. "Not sure that is such a benefit. You'd have to wear shoes – all the time."

"There are downsides too." He reached out to take her hand. "It was great having you around."

"Thank you, Sully," she said earnestly. "Thank you for everything. You gave me a safe place to find myself again and to discover things I never would have about myself, and people and life."

"I need to ask … just because … because I need to - your choice of Booth … you are good with that? You are sure about that?"

"You are a very good, kind, descent man who is sexy as hell and a fine cook – one of your multitudinous talents. I didn't choose Booth over you, I chose Booth over being alone." As soon as she said it she realized how harsh that sounded. "Which isn't to say -."

"I understand, Tempe."

"You like your freedom, Sully … and if I were looking for someone to share an island with, you would be my first choice. But -."

"I get it, I really do." He shook her hand warmly. "Friends then … we stay friends."

"Always."

He nodded and let go of her hand. "I am not leaving town just yet … things to wrap up on this case. But I'll get out of your apartment. Wasn't there long enough to shower; you don't even need to change the sheets."

"That is not necessary, Sully."

"It is. It really is." He let go of her hand and walked out with his shoulders square. When the door closed behind him he exhaled the breath he was holding. It was silly to ever think that she would choose him, but like they say … you can't win if you don't play. Booth was a good man. He respected him. He would be good for and to Tempe. Maybe he had taught her how to loosen up and she would pass that on to Booth. Maybe. In any case, they were friends, all three of them. He was happy for them.

"Oh shit," he said. "Dawes … I didn't tell her about Dawes." It could wait, he decided. She had had enough for one day.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth ran into Maggie in the parking structure of the Hoover building. She was exiting in a hurry and he was arriving rather slowly.

"Maggie," he said. She hadn't noticed him.

"Booth," she said coldly. "You saw Sully."

"I did." He studied her for a moment and concluded that Sully may not be entirely wrong. "Was there something you wanted to say to me?"

"I have nothing to hide, Booth."

"So, say what you have to say."

"I think your relationship … your connection with Brennan -."

"DR. Brennan," he corrected harshly.

She gave him a scathing glance. "_**DR**_. Brennan has affected your judgment and you ability to make good decisions. My recommendation was to end the partnership in the field. If she wants to continue to consult with the FBI, she can do it from the Jeffersonian."

Booth shook his head and smiled. He wasn't going to fight with her. It just wasn't worth it.

"Look Booth, she didn't need to be there." Booth just shook his head. "And we could have taken Taffet in – you didn't need to kill her."

"Then you should have stepped up at the time," he declared unapologetically.

"Yes, I should have."

"Thanks for your … your … I guess it was help with this Agent Walker though I am hard pressed to know what your contribution actually was. I'm sure the director will take your recommendation under advisement." He started to walk by her.

"Booth," she called to him. "I gave my opinion in the best interest of the FBI and for you ... and her. She almost died out there, next time she might not be so lucky. How would you live with that?"

He snickered. "You know you keep saying that you are only looking out for me … and Bones, but I have to wonder if there is something else going on."

"Like what?"

He turned to face her to ask her straight out. "Maggie, did you think there was more going on between us?" She smirked and looked away; pointedly not answering the question. "What did you think happened between us 9 years ago.

"Rebecca ... Rebecca happened."

"Rebecca?"

"You broke up with me because she got pregnant."

"We never had a 'relationship,' Maggie. We were friends, colleagues actually. And we hadn't slept together for months before Rebecca got pregnant."

"We were together the night you told me she refused your proposal."

"On a stake out," he added. "We were on a stake out that night. I remember specifically because that was one of the reasons Rebecca turned me down."

"Because of me?"

"Because of the job - the hours, the danger, the fact that I would get up and go at a moment's notice. It had nothing to do with you, you and I weren't involved – that was your call." He stepped toward her so he could keep his voice down. "Maggie, you defined our relationship a long time ago in a very un-PC way."

"Friends with Benefits?"

"Fuck buddies," he said harshly. "I didn't think it was a good idea back then, but you made a very compelling case. We had some fun but it was never more than that. If you wanted to change the rules, you didn't tell me."

"You used me."

"No one was used ... consenting adults with no strings attached. Those were your ground rules." He paused to see if she would respond. "I've never lied to you and I have never said or implied anything that wasn't the absolute truth. And I would never sabotage you professionally or personally."

"Is that what you think I did?" She shook her head. "Then we really don't know each other at all." Her eyes grew dark and mean. "I hope your Dr. Brennan is still here when you get back ... but maybe she will have gone back to her tropical island and her lover."

"Back? When I get back from where?"

"I got you pulled from Afghanistan for this case only ... you'll have to go back to finish your tour."

The idea that he would have to finish his tour was always in the back of his mind, but he couldn't understand her vitriol when she spit that fact at him. "When did you turn so vindictive?"

"Happens to a woman who is shit on by every man she has ever known."

"I have done nothing to deserve that, Maggie," he stated. "Might want to look at the common denominator... you." Booth turned and walked away.

Maggie wasn't who he thought she was or maybe she had changed in the years since he first knew her. He washed her from his mind with thought of how different Brennan was. It was one of the reasons he was drawn to her in the first place - she was rationed, reasoned, logical (to a fault) and what you saw was what you got. So unlike anyone he had ever known – for good and bad. She didn't play games, she didn't change the rules, she would take less than was offered or nothing at all and be satisfied. It was her choice. When faced with logic she would admit she was wrong. She would never turn on a colleague professionally for vindictive or personal reasons. The colleagues that she left in Maluku whose work she could tear apart in her sleep, she left to their own Karma (even though she didn't believe in Karma). She had honor. She wouldn't describe it that way. She would say that there was no rational reason to do something like that, but it was the same thing as far as Booth was concerned.

He paused before he hit the button that would take him to the director's floor. He would have to go back. The director had requested Hacker to get him pulled back for good, but that was unlikely to happen. So he would go back to a war zone, back to training men how to stay alive and still watching some die. Maybe he could die – or worse. There were four months left on his tour. He wasn't concerned that Brennan wouldn't wait for him, but it was the first time he had gone to war when he left 'a girl back home'. He had always counted himself lucky on that score. Never had to worry about how things would change while he was gone. He knew a lot of guys who got the _**Dear John**_, or who made it home only to find that home wasn't how it was left, or to find out that it wasn't that easy to slip back into home life. All of those things were possible – well maybe not the _**Dear John**_. But anything could happen over there without warning. Anything. Did he have the right to change the direction of their relationship when he couldn't predict what the next four months would bring? What if he came back hurt, broken, different? Should he expect her to take him in at all costs? He caught his reflection in the panel of the elevator. He laughed at himself. This was not a decision he could make by himself. There had been enough of that between them for too long. And they had come too far to turn back now.

He hit the button. Now to face the music from the director.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"OK honey," Max said standing up. "I'm going to let you get your rest. I'm going home to my own shower and my own bed." He kissed her forehead. "I love your brother. Amy and the girls are fantastic, but a man needs his privacy."

"I'm sorry about all this, Dad." She said for the umpteenth time during that conversation.

"Baby, I wish I could say that it was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but in all honesty … it isn't, doesn't even rank. And I know you won't approve of me saying this, but I'm glad Taffet is dead. Booth should have let me kill her eight months ago."

"Dad, stop."

"So tell me, honey, are you back to stay?" She nodded. "And you and Booth?" She smiled and nodded slightly. "Well it's about damned time. Will do this family good to have a cop in it."

"Dad, it's not like that."

"Not yet it isn't. But after five years, I think the courtship will be pretty short." He smiled brightly. "Besides, need me some grandkids."

"Dad," she scolded.

"Baby, I will tell you this but you can't repeat it – to anyone especially Booth. He is a good man and he is good for you. Better than I ever was. You can trust him."

"I know."

"And I'll tell you something else – this you can tell him, if he ever hurts you or lets you down in anyway … he will have me to contend with and it won't be pretty."

"I can take care of myself, Dad."

"I know you can, just call it Father's Prerogative." She shook her head. "Let's do dinner, just you and me, when you are feeling better OK?"

"Sure."

"You need me to give you a ride home, or is Booth going to take you?" 

"Booth is coming back. We have a lot to talk about."

"Don't talk too much, honey. Remember actions speak louder than words."

"I'll call you tomorrow, Dad."

"Bye honey. I love you."

"I love you too."

Max left and Brennan was left with an overwhelming feeling that things were going to be OK.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth waited outside the director's office for twenty minutes before he was called. It felt like longer. He came in, stood two feet in front of the director's desk and remained at attention waiting for Rapaport to finish his phone call. Rapaport gestured more than once for Booth to take a seat, but he remain at attention. Being back in the army pulled up some very old behaviors.

"Booth," the director said hanging up the phone and standing up. "Well done!" he exclaimed extending his hand across the desk. Booth hesitated but extended his hand and allowed the director to shake it. "Very well done. Saving the hostages, getting Taffet ... in less than six days ... has to be a record for you and your squint squad."

"Yes, sir." Booth was slightly confused by the director's apparent GLEE over the situation.

"And how is Dr. Brennan doing? Will she heal quickly?"

"Yes, sir."

"Of course I will need your official report, but I think we have enough to close this case with what Sullivan gave us."

"Yes, sir."

"How about a drink?"

"No, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Booth, this is not the army ... at the hell ease OK?"

Booth released his _attention_ but didn't actually relax."

"So Walker ... now there is a pistol, huh?"

"Agent Walker?"

"Yes, used to be FBI and now doing DCIS's bidding."

"Yes sir, and she was tasked to the Army for two years in Afghanistan."

"Right, right ... where you two ... what do the kids say these days? Right, _**HOOKED UP**_. Funny, I always thought that you and that pretty scientist had a thing going."

"Sir, Agent Walker and I are colleagues."

"With benefits though, huh?"

"Sir," Booth didn't like this whole line of inquiry.

"Relax Booth ... I've been around the block a few times and I know how it goes. This isn't the first time Walker has tried to get an agent fired or tried to break up an otherwise VERY successful partnership. She has got a bit of a reputation, though you would have no way of knowing that because we at the top are not as dumb as we look ... sometimes."

Booth nodded and smiled. It was nice not to have to protect himself or play the bigger man and go down without a fight.

"Besides," the director continued. "We have no intention of breaking you and the Jeffersonian Squint Squad up - at least we won't when you get back."

"Back, sir?"

"Yeah," he drawled. "Seems that the Army has a direct line to the president ... well at least the Secretary of Defense and while he SecDef has no interest in you at the moment, any string pulling from the FBI will cause a little red flag to go up and we will get more interest than we can bare. Sorry, Booth ... for the greater good of the FBI, you need to finish your tour."

"Yes, sir."

"But your office, your job and your Squint Squad will be waiting for you when you get back."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hey, maybe by then they will have this Rachel Dawes thing rapped up."

"Rachel Dawes?"

"Seems she was released last night with the help of Agent Robert Hendricks. He's gone missing."

"Sir, we need to ..."

"You need to do nothing, Sergeant Major Booth, but pack your duffle and head back to your unit. We survived without you before, think we can do it again."

"Sir." He was shot down.

"We'll keep your people safe, Booth." He nodded his gratitude. "I did get you 48 hours ... so take the weekend to say good-bye to your kid and whoever else you need to say good-bye to and stay safe over there. You can email me your report."

"Thank you, Sir.

"Good job, Booth."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth arrived at the hospital shortly before 4PM. He had gone to see Parker and to get an earful from Rebecca. It was worth it just to see his son, who was very proud of his dad. He stepped off the elevator and saw Maggie exiting Brennan's room. She ducked down the stairs opting to avoid contact with Booth. A wise choice. Booth knocked and entered. Brennan was up and dressed and looked very ready to leave. Whatever passed between Walker and Brennan was not evident, then again Brennan gave a new meaning to the term _**poker face**_.

"Hey," he said with a bright smile.

"Hi," she returned easily.

"What did Walker want?"

Brennan looked confused for a moment as if she were trying to place the name. "She wanted to give me an anthropology lesson."

"Oh? How did that go."

"I think she was surprised that I was more knowledgeable on the subject than she was."

"Bones," he thought he better explain. "Let me -"

"Booth, please ... you don't need to say anything, OK? If I were in her position I might -"

"You will never be in her position and you would never do what she has tried and failed to do."

She nodded. "I will accept both of those things as true though I am hesitant to believe them without further details. Details I would rather not discuss at the moment."

"But you still won't tell me what she said."

"She reminded me that homo sapiens are not a monogamous species and that typically the male requires multiple partners to maintain his Alpha Male status." Booth looked shocked, like he was caught with his pants down. "I reminded her that that was a biological imperative to ensure the survival of the species and that since the likelihood of humans from going extinct was remote, that that imperative could easily be controlled. Further every group was made of individuals, and that all individuals do not always follow the group dynamic. Further that the knowledge and acceptance of such group behavior should lessen any individuals negative experience should it occur."

"Bones," he started to think of some defense but was really at a loss.

**"**Booth, do you want to have sexual intercourse with Agent Walker?"

**"**No," he said quickly and still jarred by her directness.

"Then that, I suspect, was her reason for the reminder." She slung her bag over her shoulder. "Now, I believe we have a conversation to finish."

Did Booth just get a free pass from Brennan? Funny, all his life he had wanted a woman who wouldn't be jealous of other women, who would accept and allow him his sexual freedom while keeping the core relationship strong and intact. Of course being a good Catholic Boy meant that he would never ask for or expect the woman in his life to accept infidelity as matter of course. That was not the funny part; that was just the Y factor being heard. The funny part was that since he woke up from that coma, he didn't want any other woman. For the first time in his life he believed (in his bones) that he could be happily monogamous. Walker was a mistake (then and now), but she was right about one thing: he never should have allowed Brennan to walk away from him and their partnership eight months ago.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"You didn't have a say in the matter," Brennan stated with very little affect when he whispered that 'sweet nothing' in her ear.

The car ride back to her apartment was filled with newsy information about Parker, Max, Daisy & Sweets, Dawes untimely release from holding and what was being done to track her down. Work and Work related stuff. It wasn't 'just like the old days' but it wasn't uncomfortable either. Both were very aware that things were about to change for them as partners and as a couple so they were both a little hesitant and cautious with each other. Of course Booth was probably being overly cautious since what he had to say was more of a wedge than something that would get them together. When they arrived at the apartment neither one spoke. She stepped into an embrace that quickly turned to a kiss that ended in an embrace in which Booth whispered his belief that things should have been different. It was a typical guy thing to say that should have been romantic and rhetorical, and to demonstrate his remorse. But he should have known better; Brennan for all that she had changed, hadn't changed that much.

"There was nothing I could have done or said at the time that would have gotten you to change your mind?" he asked.

"That is something I can't answer, you can't answer, we can't know," she said. "So it is pointless to speculate. We need to start from here, with the history we have, are you still willing?"

"Of course," he said. "I love you ... have loved you ... But -."

"But?"

"There is something you need to know." He paused for a long moment. "It may make you want to put this all on hold." He didn't want to bring it up. He still didn't know if he should ask her to wait or if he should let her if she offered. Waiting really wasn't the issue, they had come back together after eight months of nothing, another four would net the same result. The issue was how would they define their relationship upon his departure, and how they would proceed for the next two days. Could it and should it be spent in new romance - making love and saying all the things they needed to say, sharing hoped and dreams. Brennan didn't like to do that anyway. With Booth being in a war zone and her being alone, increased the chances that anything they did say or promise, might not come to pass. This was not a decision he could make on his own. He just wished he had an opinion. "I have to go back ... finish my tour. Four months left."

She sunk down on to the couch. For some reason it never occurred to her that he would have to go back. It should have, but it didn't - at least not on any conscious level. "Oh."

"I don't like it any more than you do," he said. "But there is nothing I can do." He sat down next to her and took her hand. He liked that he had liberty to do that. He was never worried about touching her in the past, at least not before that night - the night of Sweets' book, but after that he was more than a little reserved. She had felt that too. It made her very sad.

"I understand," she said softly. She did enjoy his familiarity physically and was anticipating so much more. "When do you leave?"

"Monday ... 8AM I report back to base."

"Here or in Afghanistan?"

"Here ... will take a day or more to get the transport and hook up with my unit." She nodded. "I will understand if you want to wait until I get back ... to talk."

"No," she looked up at him. "I mean ... no, I wouldn't ... would you?" He shook his head - so he did have an opinion. "There is so much I thought I needed to tell you," she went on. "So much I thought I wanted you to know."

"I want to hear it all," he edged closer to her.

"It doesn't seem important now."

"Of course it's important, Bones."

She looked down and spoke to lap. "I wrote a book while we were apart. It was a love story."

"Well your readers will be surprised at that." He was a little confused where she was going with the whole book thing.

"I met an elder on the island. She had been born and raised there and was a teacher. She fell in love when she was young, very young with a sailor. They had a very short time together before he had to go back out to sea. His ship was lost, no survivors. When I met her some seventy to eighty years later she was as much in love with the sailor then as she was when she was a girl. She said that she knew they would be together again one day in this life or the next. It sounded romantic and idealized, and to me it was an excuse to live a life of solitude. When I said that to her, she claimed that I had never known love." She paused and thought about what to say next. She didn't meet Booth's eye. "I decided to write her story, to see if I could understand it. You know that I am not good with psychology."

"You're learning," he smiled at her.

"Well, the story didn't work," she stated. "Not for lack of trying. My heroine - also a teacher - did meet and fall in love with a sailor, and the sailor did indeed die. However my sailor was murdered. Enter the marshal."

"Marshal?"

"He came to solve the murder of the sailor." She stole a quick glance at him. "For the first time in my writing career my characters refused to do what I wrote."

"I don't understand."

"I couldn't have my teacher return the affections of the marshal, that would devalue and change the story of eternal love as outlined by the woman I met. To portray the life of solitude holding on to a memory of something greater than herself."

"So what happened."

"The teacher and the marshal left town together one night starting an adventure and love story of their own."

"Very romantic, Temperance," he smiled at her. "Was it eternal?"

"I have no way of knowing," she smiled. "Who knows what will befall them in the future. What was important was that they trusted themselves and each other to try." She paused for a moment. "Living a life alone is safe and uncomplicated," she protested.

"It can be," he admitted. 

"It's also very unrewarding ... risking pain, risking unforeseen events to find joy in the moment is ... intoxicating."

"Is that what you learned on that island adventure of yours?"

She nodded. "I'm willing to risk what I can't control and can't foresee to find joy in the moment ... with you."

It wasn't the kind of declaration he had been expecting, but then again Brennan was nothing if not unexpected. Of course his statement of 'I want to give this a chance' was pretty soft too. "Just the moment?"

"I can't promise what will happen Booth, any more than you can ... but I can't imagine my life without you, not any more. I now know that I can be something other than a scientist. I can change and I can be happy. What is that poker expression you use?"

"Bluffing?" he joked. "Going all in?"

"Yes, that is the one. If I understand it correctly, it is the act of pushing all the chips you have on the table into the pot and risking the win on the cards that are dealt."

"Would prefer you don't reduce our relationship to a hand of poker ... particularly considering my issue with gambling, but your ... analogy is good."

"I love you, Booth," she stated again. Each time is was more freeing. "You have been my partner for years and the most profound relationship that I have ever had in my life. While I still believe risking that for more is a little scary, I also don't think I can go back to just being your partner."

"Bones, do you think there is a chance that I would not want to ..." He couldn't think of the words he wanted to say.

"There is always a chance."

"No, Bones ... not for me ... not for us. I can't imagine my life without you either." He kissed her.

Finally the talking was over.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The next two days was nothing less than a honeymoon with friends. Booth and Brennan didn't lock themselves away from the world, rather they embraced it with their new status. Saturday was lunch with Parker and a trip to the zoo after a very leisurely breakfast in bed. They had dinner and drinks with the Jeffersonian group and Max which involved a lot of laughing now that Taffet was out of the picture. Angela and Hodgins got to finally announce their pregnancy and became the stars of the night. Daisy and Sweets were back together - not engaged, but together. Daisy was hoping to come back to DC, but that would wait until Monday. Though Booth and Brennan didn't announce their new status, it was understood and accepted with a great sigh of relief. They also didn't tell the group that Booth had to go back to Afghanistan, that was Brennan's idea. She didn't want there to be anything to mar the evening. Going home together that night after a day with family and friends was natural and uncomplicated. They were natural together. Making love was somewhat tamer than Brennan had suspected, but she was still recovering from a pretty nasty head wound and the knot on the back of her skull was only starting to receded.

Sunday was spent by themselves. A late morning, late brunch, afternoon walk in the park, early dinner and lots of light conversation about hopes and dreams, past and future, and a lot of enjoying the moment.

Early Monday morning, hours before dawn they lay comfortably in each other's arms not sleeping but not talking either. Unsolicited and out of the blue Brennan said, "You got your wish."

"My wish?"

"You wished I would find happiness - love, laughter, friendship, purpose."

"Do you remember everything I say?" He pulled her tightly to him and kissed the top of her head.

"Many of the things you have said to me in the past were very sweet. I choose to remember them," she defended.

"Well you missed one important part of that wish."

"No, I didn't," she protested. "I'm happy, I've found happiness ... with you."

"But I wished you love, laughter, friendship, purpose and ... a dance." He pulled away from her and stood up extending his hand to her. "May I have the honor, Dr. Brennan?"

She hesitated. "There is no music ... we are not dressed ... it is late."

"Come on, Bones." He took her hand and pulled her up into his arms and in the moonlight they danced to their own music, laughed at their own joy and loved a lifetime. Soon they would part for a time, but they would be back together again soon.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** Whoa ... that was like a DOUBLE CHAPTER PLUS ... worth the 10 that came before?

Thanks for all the comments and Story Alerts (four more and there will be an even 100 – even though the story is over - ALERT ME!). It really makes it all worth it to know that people are reading and getting enough enjoyment to want to read more. This has been quite a rollicking ride for me; typically don't do the case type stories. Very much looking forward to Season 6. And if you were with me for A BRIDE FOR BOOTH and this whole saga, I hope the desensitizing has worked for you as well as it has for me. I say BRING HANNAH ON. Remember Cam was supposed to be a love interest for Booth and she was supposed to get written out like yesterday's news (dead I think), but she has stuck around for four more years and is still with us. The dynamic between Booth and Cam is fun and interesting. I actually love Cam and Brennan. Wouldn't it be fun to have another GIRL for Brennan to BOND with and wouldn't that just piss Booth off (particularly if he only brought her home to make Brennan jealous). We all know that Brennan has his heart, nothing else matters. Who cares if there are other sexual partners – Booth and Brennan are all work and no play. So who is gonna get more time with Booth? Who will he break dinner dates for? Who will he get up out of bed for? Who would he kill for? Who will he die for? Hannah poses no real threat. Just the writers towing the party line. And hey, do we honestly think that Booth has been celibate since Cam? I think not. B&B will survive.

One last thing ... do you need to see the union when Booth gets back in four months? Something short and sweet? Or do you want me to leave it to your own imagination? Hmmmmmm ...


	12. Epilogue

**The Best Laid Plans of Agents and Anthropologists**

**By LizD**

**Epilogue**

**A/N:** Struggled with this epilogue. Wasn't going to post anything at all. But the spoilers and clips I have seen made me believe that it is going to be a hard first half of the season and thought we could all use something to make us smile until then. Enjoy the season, y'all.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

It had been a very long four months for Booth. It was actually 18 weeks, almost to the moment – eighteen weeks exactly (give or take an hour). Originally he was set to be released late Friday night after four back to back debriefing sessions, but he had pulled a few strings and was able to secure Thursday afternoon. Brennan was supposed to pick him up, but he thought he would surprise Brennan and got a ride directly to the lab. He should have gone home, showered, changed into a nice suit and showed up at the lab like he never left, but his desire to see her took over and all that other stuff seemed unimportant.

During his time away their communications had been limited to emails and an occasional phone call. Twice he was able to do a Web-call with her claiming that he needed some Squint work done. It was nice to see her face and look into her eyes even across the ether. She was very prolific at the emails this time sending him at least one a day sometimes two or three. They weren't overly long, and God knows they weren't gushy, girly, or overly sentimental. Typically they were just newsy, but the fact that she took time to write them as often as she did was enough to let him know that she was thinking about him. He would have liked a little less news and little more personal but that would not have been Brennan. If she had just signed off occasionally with an 'I love you' or 'I miss you', but Booth learned to read between the lines.

From what he gathered life at home had gone on without him but with a few return engagements of old players. Sully had stayed in Washington at the director of the FBI's request ostensively to work on the Rachel Dawes case. Agent Margaret Walker of the DCIS became Special Agent Walker of the FBI. She must have pulled a few strings and blackmailed someone. Brennan was very quiet on Sully's involvement with the Jeffersonian, but very vocal about Walker's presence. Booth felt like he needed to apologize each time Walker was mentioned in an email and sometimes he did. Other times he was waiting for a response to a direct inquiry about Sully, which she didn't answer. Booth was jealous – no doubt about that, but then remembered who 'the girl' was. If Brennan didn't answer it was because she didn't feel that it was important, and if she didn't think it was important; then it didn't affect them. It was nice to have so much trust. That came with years of their partnership. This was the first time that Booth had ever been so sure of a woman before they started sleeping together.

There was still the question as to how they would proceed with their new relationship status. What would the FBI do? Would they care as long as they could keep closing cases? What about that whole 'working in high risk situations with someone he was romantically involved'. It was not very good idea, but he was sure that he and Bones were special that way. He was sure that they could keep the line between work and pleasure clear - not mixing the two ... much.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

When he walked in the lab was nearly empty even though it was not yet 17:00. He looked toward Brennan's office. The door was open so he dropped his duffle and headed up the stairs. They nearly bowled each other over as they met in the doorway, he rushing in and she rushing out.

"Booth!"

"Bones!"

"Hi," she kissed him quickly on the side of his mouth and moved to continue on her path. "What are you doing here?"

"Hoping for a better home coming," he turned to watch her leave but didn't move closer.

"I'm sorry ... I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"Surprise!" He smiled.

"I'm not fond of surprises," she said over her shoulder. "But it has been a day for surprises." She added under her breath, "actually it has been several weeks of surprises."

"Oh?"

She motioned for him to follow her. He did reluctantly still waiting for his grand welcome back. "Angela has gone into labor; we need to get to the hospital right away."

"Figured she was earth mother and would have done some weird under water birth at home with candles and a midwife."

"There were complications," she said still leading him out of the lab.

"Bones!" He stopped in his tracks and waited for her to turn around. "I'm back."

"Yes, I see that." She shrugged. "I am very happy to see you, now please ... can we get to the hospital?" She turned again to continue her departure.

"_Happy to see me_ ... that's it ... that's all I get?"

"Booth!" She stopped and looked at him: handsome as ever, all in one piece, no visible signs of injury and making those baggy fatigues sexy as hell. She took a step toward him and he toward her - one more and they were within each other's personal space. "You look good," she smiled seductively. "It's really good to have you back." She slid her hands up is chest and around his neck. He let his hands rest on her hips, his thumbs rubbing her ribs not able to tear his eyes away from hers. She pulled him down to meet her lips and kissed him the way he was hoping to be kissed upon returning home from war. "I missed you," she said easily something she almost never wrote in an email.

"I missed you too ... don't suppose we could slip home before going to the hospital." She shook her head no. "Fine, I'll drive." He was back and nothing had changed – or so it seemed.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

At the hospital Cam, Daisy, Wendell, Vincent, Arastoo, Sweets and Sully were all waiting. They looked worried not like they were about to hear the about the miracle of life. Booth was warmly welcomed by all but his return wasn't enough to shake the general feeling of anxiety.

"What is going on?" he whispered to Brennan.

"I told you there were complications," she whispered back. "She is pregnant with twins, has suffered from preeclampsia and the labor … the birth … is at least two weeks early."

"Will she be alright? What about the babies?"

"We don't know, Booth." She reached down and laced her fingers through his. "Not the welcome home I had planned," she whispered.

"So you did have something planned?"

"Of course." She smiled slightly as he squeezed her hand.

The conversation in the group took a safer turn. Everyone was trying to pretend like it would all be OK. A nurse entered the waiting room. "Is there a Brennan?"

Bones shot up out of her seat. "I am Temperance Brennan." Everyone else stood as well.

"Follow me," she said gruffly.

Brennan followed not making eye contact with anyone in the group. They all sunk down into their seats again.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan was led to the neonatal intensive care unit. Hodgins was still masked, gowned and gloved. He was standing between two incubators. The only thing she could see was his eyes. They looked worried, stressed, nervous. The nurse directed her to put on a gown etc. When she entered Hodgins looked up and she saw visible relief in his eyes. "OK … everyone is going to be OK … just precaution," he said repeating the doctor's words and almost believing them himself.

"Angela?" Brennan asked.

"Post op," he said. "They did a C Section. She will be awake shortly. Will you go sit with her in case she wakes up?"

"Of course." Brennan hesitated looking at the babies.

"Girls," he said. "We got ourselves two beautiful daughters."

Brennan threw her arms around him and hugged him hard. The tears he had been holding back nearly spilled over. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." He pushed her back. He was still very close to breaking down and he was clearly torn about staying with his daughters or going to Angela.

"I'll go sit with Angela." She hesitated again. "Everyone is waiting to hear."

"Everyone?"

She nodded. "Booth is back too."

"Please tell them that the Hodgins clan will be OK, but they should come back tomorrow."

"OK."

"And you should go too … go be with Booth. There is nothing I can do here." He looked down at his daughters who were both sleeping peacefully. "I'll go sit with Angela."

Brennan looked at the nurse whose gruffness had worn off. "Mrs. Hodgins will be sleeping for at least an hour," she said. "And I can stay with her until then."

"May I see her?" Brennan asked.

"She is still sleeping."

"I understand." The nurse frowned again but gestured Brennan to follow her. Brennan pressed Hodgins hand once more before following after the nurse.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Brennan was back in the waiting room about twenty minutes later. She told everyone the good news and there was a collective sigh of relief. Shortly afterward Jack made a brief appearance. Angela was awake in spite of what the nurse had professed, so he didn't want to stay long, but he wanted to thank everyone for coming. He was slowly evolving into the proud papa. His wife was going to be fine and his daughters would only have to stay a day or two in the NICU just to be sure that they were OK. With any luck the Family Hodgins would be going home on Sunday or Monday.

After Jack had gone and that crisis averted, attention shifted to Booth and his triumphant and timely return. They were a little loud for the waiting room at a hospital and were asked to take the celebration elsewhere. People were in the mood to celebrate, but Booth suggested another time. He had just gotten in from Afghanistan and was feeling a little jet lagged.

Brennan had been very quiet throughout the entire exchange. She was still a little worried about Angela and more than a little anxious about what was next with Booth.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"So," he said as he slipped into the passenger seat after she insisted on driving. "My apartment is closer." He leaned over to steal a quick kiss.

"As I said I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"So?"

"So there is ... nothing ... I mean ... I have ... let's go to my apartment." Booth knew she was hiding something but really didn't care at the moment. "I have some ... food … some food … I was going to go shopping tomorrow. And beer … I have beer. And a really nice bottle of scotch."

"Alright, alright … sold. Let's go to your place." He stole another kiss this time on the cheek as she was driving. "But I really wasn't thinking about food or beer."

"You have been away for a long time." She looked at him quickly still with some trepidation. "I mean it felt like a long time ... longer than four months."

"You want to tell me what is going on?" He leaned back and looked at her.

"Going on?"

"I know you Bones." He placed his hand on her thigh. "I know you better than you know yourself ... always have, always will ... so, you gonna tell me?" She hesitated. "Then just tell me if it is going to change anything about then next twelve to twenty-four hours."

She smiled broadly and dropped her hand down to cover his. "I thought you were jetlagged?"

"I have revived." He massaged her inner thigh eliciting a moan from her.

"Long time ... Four months -."

"One hundred and twenty-six nights," he cut her off. "One hundred and twenty-six very long, very lonely nights with some pretty intense, pretty vivid dreams ... funny there were only two people in the dreams and one of them was you. Of course I was the star."

"You want to tell me about your dreams?"

He smiled at her 'cluelessness'. "Yeah, Bones ... I want to discuss my ... dreams ... maybe you can help me understand them." He grinned. "Or at least reenact them."

"I assumed we would be having sex," she stated flatly.

"I am sure that sex will definitely be on the agenda." He squeezed her thigh which actually pushed the gas pedal down more than he had planned.

"Oh ... I see ... you were dreaming about having sex with me." She smiled. "For my part ... I will say that you - more specifically your body … in particular your hands, arms and back - figured prominently in the one hundred and twenty-six nights and mornings that I spent alone in bed. So much so that I was often compelled to ..."

"Drive, Bones." He groaned. "Don't talk ... just drive." Her eyes twinkled when she glanced at him. "Really? My hands? My Arms? Back? Nothing else _**figured prominently**_? You really know how to hurt a guy, Bones."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The reunion started in the elevator. Booth couldn't wait any more. Truth be told it was Brennan who couldn't wait, but Booth was more than happy to brave the PDA on the camera in the elevator and halls. Once inside, there was nothing and no one in their way. The duffel and Brennan's bag were dropped by the front door and clothing littered the hallway down to Brennan's bedroom. There was no thought of food, drink or conversation until well after midnight.

At 12:45, the door to Brennan's room opened. Booth slipped out dressed only in boxers (there was much joking about the camouflage boxers). He slipped by the guest bedroom and into the kitchen to forage for much needed water or something that would hydrate and sustenance. The fridge was full alright with fruits and vegetables enough to fill the produce section at Whole Foods and some cheeses that Booth was sure didn't come from a cow. He settled on water, beer and carrots ... they would call for take-out. Now that he was back in the big city, he was sure they could take-out after midnight.

He hurried down the hall with his booty in his arms and a carrot sticking out of his mouth. He dropped a beer by the door to the guest room and was very grateful he had not opened it. Something caught his eye.

"Bones?" he called as he walked into the guest room. "Hey, Bones."

She came out with a robe loosely tied around her, hair completely mussed and saw that he was in the guest room. She would have closed the door if she thought about it. She should have told him but was enjoying the reunion too much. Now it was too late. He knew something was not right. She was caught.

"What the hell, Bones?" He was standing amidst a piled of his stuff; stuff that he had left safe and secure at his apartment. Not just some of his stuff; it looked like all of his stuff with some obvious omissions namely his furniture, but he hadn't had a chance to do a full inventory.

"Yeah," she hedged. "I was going to tell you ... but we were … busy."

"This stuff didn't get here in the last five hours, Bones," he stated. "So … When? What? Why? And How?"

"It has been her for about three weeks."

"What? Three weeks ... you just decided that we were going to live together?"

"No!" she protested a little too vehemently even for Brennan. "That concept didn't cross my mind." She paused. "But I expect that we would be spending a great deal of time in each other's company now that you are back. We will often be sharing a bed, a bathroom, having meals together – more than we have in the past. There is some financial benefit to sharing a home. And there is more than enough room here -"

"BONES!"

"There was a fire," she blurted out.

"A fire."

"Yes ... the apartment below yours ... your neighbor, a Mrs. Henderson. She died."

"I'm sorry for Mrs. Henderson and her family."

"She was alone in the world ... no family, no friends ... she died in the hospital three days after the fire."

"A very sad story, Bones. Why is my stuff here?" He was looking through it.

"The apartment had to be ... to be completely renovated. Actually the building was condemned and needed to be torn down. So, your effects needed to be removed. It was either here or in a storage facility. There was a lot of smoke and water damage."

He noticed the conspicuous absence of the cabinet that held his pride and joy. "Where is my record collection?"

"And some other damage … from heat … fire. Some items needed to be discarded. Though I hear most of those recordings are now on CD or available to download from something called iTunes."

"NOT THE SAME THING, BONES," he barked. "Not the same thing at all." He exhaled forcefully and tried to control his frustration. "Bones," he said very softly. "How did you get this stuff?"

"Rebecca called me."

Biting his frustration back. "Why did Rebecca call you?"

"You had her listed as your emergency contact on your lease."

"I signed that least like seven years ago."

"You never changed it apparently."

"So how did it get from Rebecca to you?"

"She was unable to come back -." Brennan stopped. She hadn't wanted to be the one to give him the next piece of news.

"From where?"

"Her honeymoon."

"Rebecca got married?"

"She wanted to tell you, but I suggested that she not add any additional stress to your time away from home."

"Very considerate." Clearly he didn't think it was considerate at all.

"Booth, you weren't supposed to come home a day early."

"How would coming back tomorrow make any difference at all?"

"I would have met you at the base and we would have … you know … talked. I could have eased you back into it."

"Yeah, I know that joke … the cat went out onto the roof."

"Cat? I didn't know you had a cat. There was no sign of a cat when we cleaned out the apartment."

"Bones, forget the cat. What about Rebecca?"

"Rebecca was going to meet us and tell you about it herself. Apparently it was rather sudden."

"Right," he noticed a box behind the bed. "That is not from my apartment … that is stuff that I left in my office."

She looked a little sheepish. "They needed your office. They promised to find you another one when you got back."

"So … in the past four months the mother of my son got married, my apartment burned down nearly destroying everything I own in the world, I am out on the street from both my home and my office and my … what ... girlfriend(?) and everyone else thought it was best to keep this from me until I got back." Brennan was speechless. "And I thought you hated surprises."

"Well, I wouldn't say that."

"What would you say?"

"I would say that we are still partners … better partners … partners with benefits. _**Girlfriend**_ is an expression typically limited to teenagers and implies a sexually exclusive yet casual relationship."

"Bones!"

"You know I am not good with the psychology stuff," she protested. "What should I have done? You weren't here to ask?"

"Did you discuss this with Sweets or Angela?"

"Sweets agreed with me."

"Sweets is an idiot."

"I'm sorry, Booth. But there was really nothing you could have done from 5000 miles away. I did what I thought was best. I have a list of apartments you can look at … I hired a realtor. The FBI knows you will be back in two weeks and will have an office and a car for you then. I don't see how Rebecca getting married should affect you, except that she will probably move to Montreal next year taking Parker with her."

"WHAT?" He sunk down onto the bed, opened the beer and nearly drained it.

"Parker thinks you ought to buy a house so he can have a room of his own -."

"Parker thinks … how do you know what Parker thinks?"

"Parker and I have spent a great deal of time in each other's company. He was staying with me for the weekend when Rebecca got married."

"My God Bones … I don't think I can take any more surprises … why don't you just tell me everything."

She hesitated. "I am not sure there is much more to tell." She thought for a moment. "Parker is very much looking forward to a little sister or brother."

At that Booth stood up. "WHAT!" She realized that she shouldn't have said that. "You are telling me that Rebecca is pregnant?"

"I thought you would be happy for her," Brennan protested.

"I am," he claimed. "I will be … I guess … I was only gone for four months."

"A lot can happen in four months."

"Apparently." He scanned her up and down. "Anything else I should know about? Any other rabbit's die while I was away?"

She looked confused. "How would I know about rabbit mortality rates?" He gave her a face. "OH, you are not asking about actual rabbits?"

"You're a genius, Bones." He smiled and stepped toward her.

"OH!" She gasped. "You are referring to the ancient method of testing on rabbits to determine if a woman was pregnant. Do you know that all rabbits used in the testing died; that it didn't matter whether the woman was indeed pregnant or not? So the expression 'the rabbit died' to imply that a woman was pregnant was erroneous."

"Bones?" he cajoled.

"What? No, Booth. If you are asking if I am pregnant, the answer is no. I am a very responsible sexual partner and would never allow myself to become pregnant accidentally. Additionally, with the change of our relationship status, I assume that you would want to be part of the process and therefore you would be consulted and have an opinion that must been taken into consideration. Further, I believe we are not ready to make that kind of change to our relationship."

He could barely hide his disappointment, but it was a relief. "So is there anything else that is happening at home that you failed to mention in your emails … emails that I got often twice a day keeping me apprised of all the events on the home front." She shifted her weight back and forth. "Though is seems some of the IMPORTANT events were sort of … ignored."

"There has been no break on the Rachel Dawes case." She offered.

"You said that."

"I now believe that Sully has stayed in Washington and the FBI to reconcile our relationship."

"When were you going to tell me that little tidbit?"

"I hoped I wasn't going to have to say anything, but you seem upset about the other things I didn't tell you, I thought I should go with full disclosure."

Sounded reasonable to Booth. "So … disclose."

"My editor refused to publish my book. The one I wrote on the island. She said that my readers have come to expect something else from me. More death, more vivid descriptions of decaying bodies. Apparently my readers want sex and death and not romance."

"I'm sorry, Bones." She shrugged her dismissal. "l'm sorry," he repeated. "Will you let me read it?" Brennan shook a nod. Not really a resounding _**yes**_, but not a _**no**_ either. "What else?"

Brennan hesitated. "Sully has been taking many cases that do not involve Rachel Dawes and has on many occasions asked me to join him in the field, or to question witnesses or suspects. And he has requested my company at meal times on a regular basis."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Did you go?"

"No."

"Not out into the field? Not out for … pie?"

"No and I don't like pie."

"So … even as a FRIEND, you two didn't go to lunch, grab some coffee, take in a movie, get caught in the copy room."

She shook her head. "We did not have lunch, he might have had coffee in the lounge at the lab while he was waiting for me to give him my findings about a case, but I certainly didn't go out for coffee with him. I haven't seen a movie and we don't have a copy room."

"Bones."

"Booth, I have maintained a very professional relationship with Sully that does not have any friend aspects to it. He is not my partner. I did lab work for him … and it wasn't just me. The whole crew did lab work."

"He seemed pretty chummy at the hospital today."

"I believe that Sweets, Hodgins, Mr. Bray, Dr. Edison and Sully have formed a bond. They play basketball, or go hiking, other events that they have limited to males only."

"I thought you and Sully were friends."

"We were," she protested. "However I felt that Sully wanted more than my friendship."

"What made you think that?"

"Because he said as much."

"Well, I guess you have to give him honesty points."

"No, I don't." She stepped toward him. "I made it very clear that his pursuing a more personal relationship with me would end our friendship. He did not respect that." The sadness was evident on her face. "I lost a friend."

"Do I need to have a conversation with him?"

"No, I would prefer you didn't, though I imagine he will attempt to talk to you about me and I would hope that you would trust me enough to not engage in some alpha male urinating event with him."

"Pissing contest," he corrected. "I won't. I promise." He looked around the room and sunk down onto the bed. "Oh Bones."

She came over and sat down with him. "I am sorry I didn't tell you, Booth. I really thought it was for the best."

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter." He took her hand. "You were probably right anyway. There wasn't anything I could have done about any of it. Would have just given me something else to worry about."

"Other than the obvious, what were you worried about?"

"What is obvious to you?"

"You were in a war zone, Booth. I imagine staying alive and keeping the person next to you alive was enough to hold your attention."

"Yes, there was a lot of that." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I was worried about Parker"

"Expected from a father who is separated from his son."

"And you?"

"Why were you worried about me?"

"Four months is a long time Bones … a lot of time to think."

"You expected that I might have changed my mind?"

"It has been known to happen." He pressed her hand. "And it wasn't like your emails were full of hearts and flowers."

"While I find that I can be very … very articulate in written form, more so than orally."

He interrupted her with a kiss. "You have many talents … orally."

She smiled and leaned into him and tucked herself into his embrace. It was to be close, but also it meant she didn't have to look into his eyes as she spoke. She felt her heart start racing and it was difficult to stop her voice from cracking. "Due to the distance and the inability to know in what state of mind you would be in as you read my emails, I found it best to … to stay on safer topics."

"What would you have said that you didn't?" Tears were welling up in her eyes again and her breathing quickened. He pushed her back so he could look into her eyes. "Bones? Temperance?"

"I found it very disturbing to be separated from you … not just these last four month, for this whole year. It was worse these last four months for no rational explanation other than that I was able to think about you and me and what a future might hold for us in more realistic terms."

"I'm back. It's Ok. I'm home safe and sound." She nodded. "Bones?"

"I have been alone my whole life. I expected to be alone for the rest of my life. I was never lonely until I met you. Never lonely until you weren't around."

He shook his head. He didn't know how to respond. Was that good or bad?

"I was terrified that you would be killed, or injured, or that you might meet someone else."

"I understand the first two, but you have nothing to worry about on that last one. I told you Bones, you are the end of the line for me. If we can't make it work … " His words dropped off. He didn't know how to finish that comment.

"I have been doing a lot of reading – mostly fiction – which you know is rare for me. What I have discovered is that there is rarely a reference to what happens after."

"After?"

"Most love stories are about the male and female meeting, there is a struggle with lots of misunderstandings to their inevitable declaration of love for each other and then nothing. It ends with that. There are references to 'happily ever after' or 'walking into the sunset' scenario. But nothing tangible. "

"I suppose that is true – in books and fairy tales and movies."

"Even in my own book, the hero and heroine ride out of town at dawn to find their adventure. I need to know what happens in _**ever after**_ … when the sun comes up the next day."

He shook his head. "Then we need to create that part … write the rest of the story."

She didn't like that answer. "I don't know how I would proceed without you in my life. I suspect that I would find away, but the thought of it … well … I find it paralyzing. So much so, that I am concerned that I will focus too much on that outcome thus making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. And you know I don't believe in that either."

"No, you are an all facts kind of woman." He turned to her. "I have never been here before either, Bones. And I am scared to death that I will screw it up … that is my M.O. But I don't want to. I want to make it work. I want to … spend the rest of my life with you."

"Don't say that," she protested.

"Why not?"

"Because you could die tomorrow or next week or next month … there is nothing that says you will live to be an old man. So if you say 'scared to death' or 'rest of my life' you are jinxing it."

"When did you get so superstitious? What have you done with my Bones?" He laughed and tried to pull her close but she resisted. "Bones … we will make our own future. OK? I don't know what will happen from one day to the next, from one moment to the next … but I know that we can do it together … if that is what we want to do … we can do it together."

"So you are saying this isn't the end … this isn't the happily ever after, the sunset?"

"NO!" He smiled. "Not at all … this is the beginning. The beginning to a wonderful, crazy, involved story that will have ups and downs and ins and outs. There will be happy times and sad times and times that just are. People will come in and out of our lives … but we are the center."

"And the center will hold," she repeated.

"Yes."

"Ok," she stood up and stepped away from him.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to bed … want to be rested when the sun comes up and we see what is next for us." He gave her a confused look. "Join me?" She reached her hand out to him.

He took her hand, stood up and swept her into his arms. "I'm all for sunrise and what's next … but you won't be getting much rest tonight." He kissed her and stepped into the hall and turned toward the bedroom, but stopped. "There is just one thing."

"What's that?"

"Well …."

"I'm starving," they both said at the same time. She stepped out of his arms and led him toward the kitchen. Life held many pleasures. One was foraging for food with your lover, they would find many more pleasures as the days, weeks, months and years wore on for Booth and Brennan.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** Not so much an epilogue as it is a good place to start. Here's to season 6. May that Booth and Brennan find more ups than downs in the coming episodes. Thanks for playing along.


End file.
